The Good Fight

Truths and roses have thorns about them. - Thoreau

today i picked a rose growing from a tiny bush by the edge of the parking lot

the parking lot at insanity's trial

people constantly come and go there but no one ever seems to notice it

no one cares

no other witnesses but me

i brought it to my room and set it in a plastic cup with some water

a stark reminder that truth can exist anywhere

day or night

wrong or right

chains loose or tight

in both blindness and hindsight

because pink is the mediator between blood red and innocent white

as faith lifts its weary head in

the good fight

Author's Note

"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

Reviews

[Ruth]

As it is said, sanity is over rated, until it is challenged, I say...the thin line of trying to find beauty in this world, of balancing the trials of both the flower AND the thorns, of making sense of the darkness with light and so and so forth - well, never an easy time. Life's journey is both, the thorn and flowers...the flowers a chance to reflect on the path opening, the thorns a purging of soul and a chance to bleed when needed. I may be rambling, as always, but your poetry inspires me Pete, be well my friend and tread with ease in that parking lot:)

[Pete]

not rambling. couldn't agree with you more. sanity is overrated. i think our true selves are in a bit of letting loose off the beaten path - is where discovery takes place and truth is more likely to be found. how can we even know real truth without challenging it - is what life is about in learning from the thorns and flowers. would never have found that flower if i hadn't decided to eat me lunch outside sitting on the edge where everyone merely parks and drives off. wouldn't have noticed it until i sat down and was at eye level with it as it hid near a fence amidst some weeds. i love your thoughts on this from a woman who knows ... :)

[barleygirl]

On one hand (the most obvious), I love the allegory you're going for . . . about how this rose symbolizes truth & so on.

But I must also read this & ask myself, "how does this narrator know nobody has noticed this rose & isn't it rather audacious of him to assume what other people are capable of noticing?" Followed by my next thought, "maybe subconsciously, he tries to justify picking the rose, removing it so nobody else can enjoy it."

Some of us believe flowers are meant to be left on the bush for everyone's enjoyment. The intent of your poem is to show a lofty point of view, but for me, it symbolizes how self-serving assumptions abound & we need to examine our motivations honestly as part of striving to be a better person (((HUGS)))

[Pete]

thank you for reviewing. appreciated ... :)

[John the Baptist]

Interesting thought about pink being a mediator between red and white. I think that is a good metaphor for most of us. We tend to fluctuate between the extremes. Of course, some go all the way red, and that's why we have prisons.

[Pete]

too many of us are blind to truth - life has a way of doing that. for good or bad there can be dogma at the extremes. i've been thinking a lot about this recently and have come to the conclusion that i should simply strive to, "do unto others as i would have then do unto me" - this is my scale in weighing situations that i find myself in and probably the best that i can strive for. i must constantly ask myself how i would want to be treated given the situation. on another note, there have been some great prison movies over the years. thank you j. the b. ... :)

[Sami Khalil]

I like it Pete. Truth unfolding like a pink rose. I like the comparison. A beautiful rose must have thorns. Some call for an ugly truth but you say it is pure and innocent.

[Pete]

thanks sami. i find nothing ugly about truth, quite the opposite. truth however can be hard. it is our identification and acceptance of it and going against it that can be ugly. those thorns are there for a purpose. thank you for your review kind sir ... :)

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! So true and well said. You are welcome sir.