Centerpiece

You say

That I am among the lucky few

So close to the Source

Where pilgrims pass by flowerbeds

In awe subdued

To give their adoration

You say

That my smiling petals and enchanted scent

Guide them to their rendezvous

With Beauty

In these gardens

That reminds them of heaven.

You say

That many of my kind

Would leap (if they could)

From their roots to be

In my place near the Shrine

In the gaze of believers.

I say

That you do not know

The stress on my stem

To stand radiantly perfect

With a joyful pose

That never bends

To be

A chosen rose

That does not dip nor droop

Bears a sigh that I dare not express

Nor admit, nor can my peers

About me forever hold my blossoms high.

-- C. S. Cholas

For a friend serving at the Baha'i World Centre
Haifa, Israel