Life’s Beautiful Deception

I touched its dying leaves.

I felt the empty space where

It had once given life.

For 30 years, it had given to others

Asking nothing in return.

It loved to show off its beauty,

And make others smile.  Its aroma was

So intoxicating, you could smell nothing

else, even for a while.

The old saying is so true ,

You have to stop and smell the roses,

And pray when you do.

Its life was over, its flowers would bloom no more

I bent to pick up the petals lying on the

Once fertile soil

As I  went to pick the petals up,

I looked a little closer

My eyes must be deceiving me!

At the bottom of the rose bush,

A baby bud, so tiny and frail

Lifted it's head

and smiled up at me