For her love is a word
full of emptiness
she fails to
understand
its language
it's too preachy
for her likings
For a little girl
whose father
left her when
she is too young
to even shed a tear
when it's her time
to marvel at the flowers
she is forced to
mourn with them
if at all
she knew
their pain
as they watched
her confused face
but she grew
she learned to act
and learned to frown
she paid her dues
Now she's thick
as a bark
bold and bare
but she's
not without love
What was snatched
from her from the very
beginning
is now returned
in the songs of
egrets and  buzzards
only that
A lotus cannot grow
in clean waters
as much she wants to
But when she blooms
people look at her
in amazement
forgetting
what's around
only she knows
what she's been through
But in the end
a lotus she is...