Lone Petal

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 this rose,

and smell the flowers along the way.

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

Very good philosophy and good advice here. We do get caught up in the many details of our lives and thus miss the treasures that mindfulness would bring us.