Gardening Insight

Working in the garden never ceases to amaze me. You learn things every day. I thought you might enjoy a small revelation that I had while working in the garden. To set the stage lets take a quick look at this photograph. Hey, its’ just thorns on a rose bush, right? Well, I discovered that it was just a little more than a thorn. I was so surprised that I went inside and wrote a poem about the thorn. I would like to share my little revelation with you.

The Thorn

The roses were beautiful
The flowers were pink trimmed in white
Their fragrance filled the air
No one knew about the thorn

The thorn had cut
The thorn had torn
The thorn had pricked
The thorn was despised

I checked the bush this day
For bugs and things
Where was the thorn?
It was hanging by a thread

I looked closer
I couldn’t believe
The ugly thorn was nearly gone?
What on earth had happened?

I look closer yet
To my surprise I saw
The tender shoot the thorn had protected
The thorn was cast aside
The shoot free to grow

Then my eyes were opened
And I began to see
The things that I should have seen
The rudeness of others
The hurt from others
The pain from others

Are but thorns
Their thorns protect their tender shoots
When the thorns are removed
The shoots are free to grow
To be the beautiful creatures
They were intended to be

David Abernathy, 2003