I have witnessed love once
It's not over Christmas morning when mom and dad see me tearing up my presents
or
in the presence of peers, who when they kiss, it feels as though the Fates have finally thought of goodness in this world.
But it is how my neighbor wakes up at five am
and
he thinks I do not know it
but he comes over my fence
and plucks the stems of
a bloomed white rose
everyday
and
walks away.
One day,
I followed him
Alas
I found him sitting
next to a grave.
He did not look like an old man
To me at that very moment
He looked like a young sailor
apart from his love by the sea
and had her in his arms again,
After the longest time.
He removed a weary rose on top of the granite
and
replaced it with a new, beautiful one.
He spoke,
"I brought you
another rose today.
White and fully bloomed,
just the way you like it.
I can't do no more
since I still have to pay
the bills and your maintenance.
And I think,
my neighbor has started to
think
where do all here her roses go."
He gives me a rare smile,
arching his back
and tells me to come over.