when they would bring a rose to richer flowering,
deprive it for a season of light and moisture.
Silent and dark it stands,
dropping one faded leaf after another,
and seeming to go down patiently to death.
But when every leaf is dropped,
and the plant stands stripped to the uttermost,
a new life is even then working in the buds,
from which shall spring a tender foliage
and a brighter wealth of flowers.
So, often, in celestial gardening
every leaf of earthly joy must drop
before a new and divine bloom visits the soul.
© 1998 selinapc@pd.jaring.my
