Thursday 27 February 2014

Is that a rose?










Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen
and waste its sweetness on the desert air. 


                        ~  Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. Thomas Gray.






In the front yard, a plain hibiscus blooms;
the rose’s glamour is on show at the back.
The gardener does not enter my rooms
he knocks, and I open the door a crack.


The guests wipe their feet on the front door mat
but the hibiscus twists shut by then;
it’s a simple short-lived, no-perfume format
rather like a pebble in the garden;


a pebble splashes only when it drops
a few ripples and the surface is blanked;
the rose meanwhile preens its bushy red mop
the closed hibiscus lies wholly outranked.


But just the gardener and I see the shows
if no-one sees it bloom, is it still a rose?







6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. This write gave a subtle message-
      This is an actual account,of an incident years ago-
      A teacher asked his students to write an essay on-*Christ--changing water to wine-The entire class,submitted lengthy essays,but one child wrote one line,on the answer paper,and humbly accepted the accolades-
      What he penned was..
      'And the waters blushed upon seeing their master'--
      Blushes and splendour,seek no attention..they spread joy ,,,,naturally
      Sincere Regards
      vijay nair

      Delete
    2. Amazing.Thanks for writing that here, Vijay.

      Delete