The Wisdom of the Rose

           It's gentle radiance undescribeable,                       like love.                  The scent of beauty,                   the thorn of pain.                  Morning dew glistens,                the petals fade and die,                         yet...                It's beauty unchallenged.           It is royalty in the midst of color,                    grace in sorrow,                   fullness in light.             It is what you are as the rose,              beautiful, elegant, graceful.              It is I who grip your thorns                         and...          It is you who try to keep me from them,                         yet...                  Given choice, I hurt,                    I do not heal.             The thorn of pain is what I know.             If only I could see your beauty...                You are love and radiance,           I am sorrow which causes you to wilt.         I am the night that stops you from opening,                         I am...                The caretaker of the thorns.