ROSE AND THORN

ROSE AND THORN


Once I saw a smiling rose
And said thus to myself:
It would look nice in the vase
On top of my book-shelf.

Plucking it I let a cry,
I was stung by the thorn
Lurking behind a petal
Which lay hidden, forlorn.

I asked it why it pricked me
When I meant it no harm.
What the thorn said really
Did me rather disarm.

It said “Man of evil heart,
No harm it had caused you.
You plucked it simply because
You liked its fragrance new.

I am the angel that guards
And keep the harm away
So that in the gentle wind
The rose may smile and sway.”


* Written in abcb, 7-6-7-6 format

M C Gupta
25 Dec 2004