My First Rose

         My First Rose

When we are young and do not know the wondrous varieties of flowers, we are first taught to admire the rose. It is a classic beauty and therefore our earliest default standard.

My first vision of a perfect mate was not my first crush but my second. She inspired my first poem, in which I called her "A Rose in the Darkness"  [E]. No one else could see it, but I sensed the qualities within her.

She was a slender brunette - way too skinny to tell the truth. She carried herself so gracefully that I often forgot she could not fly. Her smile was generous, and her heart did not judge or reject prematurely.

She laughed easily in any company. No clique could entirely claim her, because she transcended ready classification. She was excitable yet delicate. She played with the boys but was never mistaken for one of them.

Her natural sport of choice was softball. She was a pitcher, and fans held their breath respectfully to admire her graceful delivery. She batted well, though her run was too dainty to stretch a nice hit into a double.

When a shy boy had a crush on her, she did not play games. She neither rejected his poetic feelings nor led him on to further foolishness. Instead she smiled and complimented his writing as if she didn't know she was the subject of it.

She loved to dance, and she did so shamelessly. She did not care if her occasional dance partner was a funny-looking fellow who didn't really know how to dance. She went with it, allowing him to forget his awkward movements and have as much fun as she was having.

Karrie is lost to me now through time, distance, and circumstance. Her features, once so treasured, I no longer hold as criteria when seeking my perfect mate. But all prospects must measure up to her in one crucial way: they need to have her strength of character or generosity of spirit. Without that, perfection is not attainable for us.

My perfect flower is out there somewhere, though in the dark so that I know not what her features are right now. But I do know that the aroma of her spirit will draw me to her when I am close.