My Father's Poems: July 24, 2022

Daily Diary, Day 692:

Found this rose this morning on my walk, reminded me so much of this poem I had to share.

TO LIVE A LIFE

I've seen your childhood in a rose, unfold
from slip to stem, to bud and then, compiled
in these your years, a vital story told,
from babe to mother, infant of the child.

Here, as a blossom, perfect for the bee,
you seem content to stay, this special way,
yet longing, somehow, simply to be free,
to crowd a life into a single day.

Long days you'll live within your pewter vase,
from the tight bud of virgin's awkward hand,
to openness and candor in its place
make every hour another conquest,
and smile then for future's day, when time's dread score
will watch your petals hush upon the floor.

--Joseph Locke