Afternoon’s light slowly fades away
The twinklings of evening steps up to the stage
It’s suppertime now
And the play, under way
My family starts routine
A routine of idle talk
Chattering away like drones
Getting ready to take a walk
And yet their endless gossip
Grasps none of my attention
I chew away slowly
Without a sense of tension
And then I saw it
Naught more than two feet
Across from my space
Cradling a blooming stalk
Was an earthen brown vase
And at the end of the stalk
Hung a orchid, pastel pink
Its childish young face
Staring blankly, without a blink
~photostyle
Yet in this perfect blossom
Was a slash of mistake
Where nature’s paintbrush faltered
The stroke jaggered by a quake
The thin, willowy stalk
Unto which the flower drooped
Was lacking in the strength
To stand, and straighten up its stoop
Thus, the orchid hung wilted
The stem, weak and strained
A beauty gone wasted
Its life locked in chains
Sometimes I wonder
If that flower is like us
We grow taller every single day
Refuse to use our trust
And not until it’s much too late
When we’re lying in the dust
Do we finally realize
Why we’re blown in a single gust
Without a helping hand to hold
We’re like that tiny bud
Without a stick to hold it straight
We’ll collapse, every time, with a thud
So where’s the helping hand
If there’s even one at all
Most people don’t know where to look
Because their faith has grown so small
All I can tell you now
Is your answer, it lays up there
Where the greatest one of all in life
Is waiting, kind and fair
Just call out to him from down here
He’ll know when you are ready
Just hold your hand out, wait and wait
Hold it out, nice and steady
I took the stiff stick
And tied it around
The fragile, lean stem
And left it there, bound
Who knows how long it’ll take
Who knows when the stalk is healed
Who knows when he’ll take our hand
‘Cuz we too, have learned to yield
And someday, sooner or later
When we’ve learned to stand strong
And the orchid’s green stem
Grew straight and tall and long
We’ll be glad we didn’t force ourselves, into carrying the burden of beauty by ourselves.
