This world can causes such sadness
Such suffering I cannot bear
Yet I drove her to her madness
And then I left her there

Close the world, shut out the sky
Allow this day to pass and die
‘Til the dreamer drifts to sleep
Take it now this soul you seek

Your eyes ask the questions why
My shame has no answer
She haunts me late at nights
The tiny little dancer

So far from being whole
Now my days are growing cold
Won’t be long until the reap
Now the dreamer drifts to sleep
.....

To all the men in all the wars who died for causes they believed in
Or found themselves unable to escape the roll of dice that sent      
them there.
A country posey picked in a shady lane by hands of love and care.

To those three thousand souls who fell crushed by towering hatred,
And those who fell at other bomber’s hands on other days,
A long stemmed perfect snow white rose from the garden of regret.

To all the children taken in their innocence on ordinary days,
In ordinary places, thought safe from all the madness of insanity,
A wreath of multicolor blossoms tied with cotton candy bows.

To all the revelers out for fun who sought the music in a crowd,
And learned the rhythm of an automatic gun instead,
A vase of yellow daisies, with a petal for each one

To all the tots who suffered at the hands of those supposed to love  them,
And lived with wounds and deprivation until there was no hope of life,
A potted red geranium that will go on blooming endlessly.

To all the lonely elderly who slipped away without a sound or note,
And went into the ground with no sad songs or mourners,
A small bouquet of lilies tied with velvet ribbons.

To all of those who couldn’t live the number of their ordained days,
Felled by accident, disease, or lost in limbos of mental illness,
A planting of daffodils to bloom each Spring.

So many lives, so many flowers.  So many to grieve and mourn for.
Just one day is not enough, nor is a week or year.
The best memorial is memory, and it can last forever.
      ljm

Sometimes when you're driving all alone,
And wondering where did this question originate
"Why did the chicken cross the road?"
Life feels so beautiful, life feels like a dream
Until an armadillo makes you scream

Nothing says summer like,
pails full of fresh berries
straight from the vine

Nothing...had enchanted me more,
than that big yellow rose...
bright, stunning at the tip of its tall stem,
soft petals.....yet to fully unfurl,
its inner part...a soothing light shaded swirl...
i sniffed a bit of its fragrance,
and felt its softness...but,
i got pricked by a hidden thorn,
---
just a tiny puncture...yet,
my finger bled so much...
---
i walked on through the garden,
...with my pricked finger inside my mouth,
i was amazed by other flowers, more colorful ones,
but, the yellow, pink, red roses outshone them all...
with care this time, i touched a  big pink,
slowly.........and, again, i didn't see,
another thorn was in the way
---
it was more painful
it bled even more...
---
i stood thinking, while bleeding...
its beauty, its silky feel...its
fragrance that lingers in the mind
would all be difficult to resist,
the pain from the thorns...harder to forget,
but, i'd still want to walk through this vast
garden....live this life...and seek those roses
feel them...be inspired...over and over
---
never mind the spikes!
never mind the pain!
---
love is beautiful like a rose
a rose is beautiful like genuine love,
there are thorns...hindrances and
hurdles, that come with its beauty....yet,
that wonderful feeling of loving,
and being loved, in return,
the wanting, the longing for it,
never dies...the fear of bleeding,
is ignored,
---
for, what is life without love?
and what is love without pain?
---
isn't love lovelier...more hopeful
the next time around?
---
a rose could never be a rose
without its many thorns...
---

Sally

©Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan
April 11, 2018