A Garden Afar

Over vales and fields,

lies a garden afar.

_The beauty of its three flowers _

call to me.

_So I travel winding road _

for a day to gaze upon,

to joy in,

and to learn from them.

  
_The first, a bright crocus, _  
  
_puts springtime delight _  
  
_in a heart shivering over _  
  
_her wintry surroundings._  
  
_As I bow to smell _  
  
_her playful fragrance,_  
  
_and feel chubby, little petals against my cheek,_  
  
_I wonder how one so small_  
  
_- and too far away -_  
  
_can put such great love_  
  
_in a grandfather's heart?_  
  

My next flower is a bold tulip -

how colorful, grace-filled, and statuesque she stands!

The snows melt away

before her charming aroma,

her radiant joy,

and the musical glory of springtime

_ she sends forth heavenward._

The father longs for the times

his tulip was in garden near;

_yet gives thanks that __Another _

cares for her so well.

  
_The last flower, a fading red rose,_  
  
_has drooping head_  
  
_and slowly dropping petals._  
  
_The cruel winter_  
  
_has been so very hard upon her._  
  
_Yet the season of long cold_  
  
_has removed her thorns_  
  
_that made it so very hard_  
  
_to draw near._  
  
_Now the son sees in her _  
  
_the favored color_  
  
_of her Gardener,_  
  
_ and smells from her<span style="line-height: 1.5;"> a sweet aroma</span>_  
  
_from a garden_  
  
_yet further still._