ROSE GARDEN

As the sun shinned forth with its early light,
  I gazed through the morning,
    and fixed my sight.

I fixed my sight on what’s precious to me -
  My lovely bed of roses,
    beneath the oak tree.

Reaching for the sunlight, were they all -
  Except "one"! -
    not standing so tall.

What is the difference between "one" and all? -
  Why does "one",
    not stand as tall?

Each gets the same measure of light -
  Each suffers the darkness,
    of the night.

I examined the roses, one and all.
  I examined "one",
    not standing so tall.

What I found was surprising to me -
  "One" - should be the healthiest,
     under the tree.

How to solve this mystery, I did ponder -
  Should I move "one",
    over yonder?

This I did by instinctive power -
  A few days later -
    how "one" did tower!

One sprang forth with many shoots!
  Maybe the old soil -
    didn’t feed "ones" roots?

Barnum Taylor Ó 1995