The Most Beautiful Flower
by Cheryl L. Costello-Forshey
A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Stories for A Faithful Heart.

The park bench was deserted as I sat down to read
Beneath the long, straggly branches of an old willow tree
Disillusioned by life with good reason to frown
For the world was intent on dragging me down.

And if that weren’t enough to ruin my day,
A young boy out of breath approached me, all tired from play.
He stood right before me with his head tilted down
And said with great excitement, “Look what I found!”

In his hand was a flower, and what a pitiful sight,
With its petals all worn – not enough rain, or too little light.
Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play,
I faked a small smile and then shifted away.

But instead of retreating he sat next to my side
And placed the flower to his nose
And declared with overacted surprise,
“It sure smells pretty and it’s beautiful, too.
That’s why I picked it; here, it’s for you.”

The weed before me was dying or dead.
No vibrant colors: orange, yellow or red.
But I knew I must take it, or he might never leave.
So I reached for the flower and replied. “Just what I need.”

But instead of him placing the flower in my hand,
He held it mid-air without reason or plan.
It was then that I noticed for the very first time
That weed-toting boy could not see: he was blind.

I heard my voice quiver; tears shone in the sun
As I thanked him for picking the very best one.
Through the eyes of a blind child, at last I could see
The problem was not with the world; the problem was me.

And for all of those times I myself had been blind,
I vowed to see the beauty in life,
And appreciate every second that’s mine.
And then I held that wilted flower up to my nose
and breathed in the fragrance of a beautiful rose
And smiled as I watched that young boy,
Another weed in his hand,
About to change the life of an unsuspecting old man.

Return to the Poetry Wednesday tour hosted by Sans Souci

deletereply starfishred wrote on Dec 15, ’08 wonderful and brings tears to your eyes thanks for sharing

deletereply bostonsdandd wrote on Dec 16, ’08 Ahhh!!!! Took my breath away!

deletereply sanssouciblogs wrote on Dec 16, ’08 Sweet, sweet, sweet and so true, true, true.

deletereply sugarpiehuny wrote on Dec 16, ’08 So True and so lovely..

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Dec 16, ’08 Thank you for listening.

deletereply vickiecollins wrote on Dec 16, ’08 Thanks for sharing this…it is profoundly beautiful. Very moving.

deletereply jadedruid wrote on Dec 19, ’08 This is wonderful! Such beautiful sentiment

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Dec 26, ’08 just passing through and catching up on a litle poetry reading………………….very pretty little poem you found here, thanks Laurita

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Dec 26, ’08 Loretta, thanks for visiting and commenting.

deletereply rosiefielding2 wrote on Feb 1, ’09 this blew me away, thankyou.