The Orchid Box

Just a poem

They pray all their life
For a gift of a lifetime
But when it arrives
It doesn't come in the package
They expect.
Battered and bruised
Dents in corners
The orchid paint flaking off
onto their hand and
quickly shake off in disgust
and out of embarrassment--
they quickly stash it away
aware of the gift inside
but because
of how it was presented
because the divine gift
came in a package unsuitable
and not one that was expected.
Disappointed,
they stash it in a corner
for years for it to collect dust
but would visit regularly-
not to touch, but to look
and bask in the light that shone
from the torn edges
a light that would quicken them.
They told no one.
Showed no one.

Then one day another gift appeared.
The gift was packaged
in a plastic casing
with plastic parts
and pleasing to the eye
and the light was bright from it
but it didn't give them the energy
the orchid box provided.
He presented the plastic box
for all to see, proudly proclaiming
their delight within it.
but with despondency and shame in heart,
they kiss with a smile the plastic box
and every day and place it in honor
on a high shelf to be admired
but their wells had ran dry,
they would suddenly find themselves
lingering by the dusty corner
basking in orchid light until sated
say nothing
and walk away.

The orchid box in time began
shining light in the darkness behind it
no longer pointing in the direction
that filled the one who prayed for it
and swiftly dismissed and disregarded it
upon it's arrival.
Miraculously, they peer down and find
The dents had mended.
The holes closed as they
were pieced over and filled with
thick layers of dust
and the filth they piled atop
out of spite,
anger,
embarrassment,
and ill placed offense
when finally they presented it
to the world
like cruel malicious stand-up comedy routine.
They felt lifted with each presentation
and felt livened by the laughter
but they were always mindful to cover
the light it emits within
so no one would ask to open it
to see what's really inside.

They grew insane with fury
when the light failed to fill them
when it finally refused to shine
upon them.
They cursed it in every manner of
bold and blatant ungrateful cruelty
until one day he stomped to the corner
to find that it was gone.
They then stood in front of
the plastic box that arrived
like a stray feral cat
and soon other colorful boxes arrived
pleasing for a short time
until more and more were added
to take space upon the shelf.
Each one had light and
they'd spend time standing
in the spotlight they created.
But the light never filled them

Until one day,
nothing did.
That was the day they realized
the light from the peeling orchid box
beheld the pure light of the moon
that gave life to the night.
The others simply had a flashlight
strapped to their backs
and the light dimmed from them entirely
as one by one
the batteries quickly ran out.

There is a moral to this story
I'm sure you already know
but if you need to ask
and an answered prayer arrives
in a way you did not expect
or it was somehow disguised
and you could not see beyond it
it is a gift you may not deserve
and need no explanation as to why.