A Poem

They Tell me I must bruise
The rose’s leaf
Ere I can keep and use
Its fragrance brief
They tell me I must break
The sky larks heart
Ere her cage song will make
The silence start
They tell me love must bleed
And friendship weeps
Ere in my deepest need
I touch that deep
Must it always be so?
Must they be bruised and go
With beaten wings?
Ah, yes! By crushing days,
By caging nights, by
Scar of throne and stormy ways
These blessings are.
-- Dr. Jowett