by Ellen Rowland
What does it mean to stop
and smell a rose?
First, you have to get out
of your head, the ego mind
and look around with your real eyes,
your seeing eyes, not the film running an encore of everything you’ve done
or haven’t done
or what you should have said to so and so.
Then you have to stop on your way to
wherever it is you are rushing
and feel, really know, that the rose is
worthy of your time.
Bend down to her.
She may be below you, but she is not beneath you. She senses this.
Now take her stem between your fingers, careful not to thorn yourself
and bring your nose to her blossoms.
Inhale. Her scent will make you close your eyes as involuntarily as a sneeze.
Then you will know why you stopped
and wonder why you haven’t stopped before and promise to stop again.
Tomorrow and again
until her petals begin to fall around her in a series of small losses.
This is her lifetime. Did you notice?
