Crimson and Power


    The man of God enters a vast garden.

Nothing else is alive but an over grown rose bush.

Curious why this vast garden bears only one fruit,

the man asks a lonely child

sitting naked in a bed of thorns,

 

"Why is there only this hideous bush--

in such a vast garden?"

 

The child softly replies

pointing to a rose of crimson and power,

 

"This bush bears a rose--

more beautiful than any other."

 

Breathless at the sight,

the man of God climbs the bush

in search of capture and conquest--

only to become impaled by the immense thorns.

 

Realizing death is upon him,

 

he asks the child,

 

"Why do you sit there alone

in a bed of thorns?"

 

The child replies,

 

"Waiting for my turn."

 

© Dean A. Klotz