The Old College Try

I can alter my life by altering my attitude. He who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers. - Thoreau

sashaying around sanity

meandering in a minefield

moseying through the wild meadow of my mind

i spied a luminous, lucid flower

full of nature's divine, growing power

so i picked it and brought it home

setting it in a crystal vase of unadulterated water

i thought i was so clever

preserving that precious efflorescence

trying to hold onto an almighty presence

but it inevitably wilted and died

so i cried

demanding to know why

i tried

pushing pride aside

with my brain fried

then i remembered

blooms and tears can be eternally pressed and dried

Author's Note

"If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal - that is your success." - Thoreau