Endurance

My rose is well content to wait.
She knows she will have her own day
When all the spendthrift clowns of spring
Have wildly spent themselves away.

Rhodies, magnolias, camelias
Are all showing off so madly,
While azaleas and blooming trees
Are behaving just as badly.

The rose knows in a few short weeks
Their great fortunes will all be gone;
Time then for her fat buds to burst,
To save the show and carry on.

She'll dispense her riches wisely,
Thinking gaudiness is a crime.
She is well bred and a lady
Wearing one jewel at a time.

She is storing up her treasures
For the seasons she'll be the queen.
Each day another opening act
With lovely scene to follow scene.

She'll be ready in her splendor
When rowdy has-beens have been sacked.
Her grand show will close for winter
With all her dignity intact.

By: Joyce 4/24/03