The Climbing Rose

With the generous gift of

Maintaining the integrity of our home

Comes a decision

That will involve

Heartache and sweet memories

Toil and thorns

Wrestling and wanting

A twisted journey

A Gentle warning

To consider well

The future of

A climbing rose

Her weighty effects upon the house and

The time she demands for care must be pondered

But let me tell you of her story

A young bride

Full of hope and abundant love

Gathered the tiniest bouquet

To grace the pillow

She made

To carry the symbols of love eternal

The symbols of loyalty and commitment

Three rings

Two for the lovers

One from the father to the son

Tiny rosebuds blessed

The answered prayer of my desperate heart

A loving father

A faithful husband

A life of love and beauty

Began our wedding day

Toil and joy

In the newness of love

The dirt was turned

A garden dreamed of

The Sweetheart rose was planted

Growing vigorously

She presided over tea parties

And summer dinners

Children’s play

And blessed my view

Refreshing me

As I washed the dishes

At the end of each day

Three sons and a daughter

A wedding to attend

We stood all together

Our beautiful young family

Framed

With beauty

And abundance

The scent of

Celebrating

New life

And growth

And love all around us

We danced that day.

Celebrating her five year birthday

I created a garland

With the blushing rosebuds

For our daughter

She wore

That fragrant life prayer

That wisdom

Would be crowned

With tenderness and beauty

Elegance and joy

All her life

And we all laughed and loved that day

Tying and trimming

Thorns

Would often draw blood

As I wondered at

The growth

And the reaching

Through seasons

Beautiful memories

Being made

Their aroma

Erasing time

~

In our garden

Under the Apple tree

I wondered as

I placed my childhood keepsake there

And gently cradled our sleeping

Baby girl

So perfect and beautiful

Prayerfully I surrounded her

Sweetness

With roses

My heart wished

A bed of roses

For her life

To be peaceful, joyful and sweet

Every day

Ten lovely years

Five wonderful children

Laughter and tears

And I would marry him again

We had dreamed

For a moment

Of a trip

To renew our vows

Instead

We invited children

Into our lives

A worthy trade

We wholeheartedly agreed

Gathering those children

Along with the abundance

Of our garden

I wove rose buds

Through our daughter’s hair

And Mine

We scattered petals

In the park

We laughed and played

And we married each other

Again

That day

Such a significant friend

We decided to plant

At the entrance of our second home

To tie our memories to the newness

She draped her beauty over our front porch

She bloomed joyful each spring

And teased me with her wildness

Testing my commitment

To climb the ladder

Into the light

To prune and get caught by thorns

Then forgive

The unintentional pain

Caused by growth

She challenged me to

Work at love

Unknowingly

She graced the table of our last meal

Her timeless beauty us all to feel

And when I came home

Without you

Her heart was the same as yours and mine

She made herself the most beautiful as ever

And tried to tell me it will all be fine

Blushing she watched me weep in your vineyard

While

Angels in heaven heavens harvested

Rose Water and wine

Severely pruned

She lies stripped naked

On the ground before our door

She knows me deeply

Echoing the pain within my soul

Her strength arching, waiting

Being carefully stepped over

Until time allows

The Son

To raise up

My lifelong friend

That she might grow

And bloom again

Someday

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Phillipians 4:8

Even for the dead I will not bind my soul to grief;

Death cannot long divide.

For is it not as though

The rose that climbed my garden wall

Has blossomed on the other side?

Death does hide, but divide;

You are but on Christ’s other side!

You are with Christ, and Christ with me;

in Christ united still are we. -

from Streams in the Desert devotional

" Is your husband all right?..."

"Everything is all right." she said.- 2 Kings 4

written November 2020