The Rose and the Rock



Each year, upon the equinox,
The rains would wash the snow away,
The winds exhaled a warmer breath,
And Earth would live a longer day.

A solitary rose once grew
Beside a quiet, hidden stream;
Her only company a rock
Who loved her as his only dream.

From spring to summer into fall,
Their silent harmony would thrive;
The winter brought them loneliness
Until their union they’d revive.

One year, the equinox arrived,
Awakening this peaceful space;
The lonely rock sought out his rose,
But barren soil assailed his face.

Despite the joy of summer days,
The rock’s grave sorrow did not cease;
He kept the autumn rain for tears
Within each crevice, crag and crease.

The crystal blanket fell on Earth
And Nature slumbered long and deep;
The winter lasted several years –
Beneath its ice, the rock did sleep.

When forty seasons came and went,
The silver quilt dissolved at last;
The rock awoke and was amazed
At how Earth changed as time had passed.

His sorrow turned to joy and peace
As he discovered that his tears
Had given him his love: the rose
That had escaped him all these years.

The rose and rock will never part
But live forever by the stream,
And in this place, for all to see,
Is happiness within this dream.

© 2004 by Robert E. Blackwell