There Was a Jasmine

There was a jasmine in my neighbours garden It grew across the fence Perfect in beauty, white in inocense Full of night balming fragrance For my pain. I could not resist the promise Of happiness I stole that jasmine sweet and mild Then memory came back And I knew it was The flower I lost since a child I grew it again where it was not But where it was supposed to be Then I blamed the soil for the rot But my jasmine returned corrupted to me What knife did my neighbour cut it with? What virus infected these stems? A clean knife or not A jasmine should not be wounded so The flowers become early withered The petals lose their glow The perfume but faintly exudes at night And my pain remains uncured A stench rises beside the blight But the bed was not manured. This jasmine is not the same Although it has a similar name I need to see the innocent flowering white To smell the perfume that balms the night I search still for joy I need to love again.