The petal of a rose once fell

then drifted slowly through the trees.

Upon the wind it tumbled long

until it drifted up to me.

 

At first, I saw no value there

in just one petal all alone.

But then I stooped and picked it up

and found that it was still a rose.

 

I felt its velvet touch my skin,

as its aroma filled the air.

I breathed to take the fragrance in,

and suddenly I was aware

 

of every moment it had lived.

I felt the roots from which it came.

I seemed to speak without a word -

that all of nature is the same.

 

How blind we are within this shell,

we ride along so ignorantly.

We waste our time with buy and sell

and miss what otherwise would be.

 

It’s hard, I know, to just let go

and not be drowned with day-to-day.

But take an invite from the rose…

and smell the flowers along the way.