Three Roses - a Parable

Three men each grew a precious rose They all had different thoughts Of how to raise and nurture them Of the outcomes that they sought. The first man shirked all effort Just plunged a hole within the soil His rose grew, waned then wilted It suffered from his lack of toil. The second man possessed great intent By preparing fertile ground Purchasing almost everything Gave his rose all that could be found. This rose developed entirely spoilt It flourished better than a weed Except it too deformed and shrivelled When he could no longer feed its needs. Our third man was a pauper However his heart was like a king All he had was time and love But he knew his rose would sing. He too prepared quite fertile earth But he never spent a cent He freed the dirt for solid roots He knew this rose was heaven sent. He spent what he could just afford Although mostly invested time Talked and fussed and loved his rose No surprise it grew up really fine This man finally met his grave Wilted then died when he grew old His rose still grows and prospers It flowers so bright and so bold. Precious gifts require attention Only exceptions grow up wild Treasures need time and care Imagine each rose could be a child.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2015



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 1/26/2021 9:56:00 PM
praiseworthy beautiful poem shared~ I enjoyed
Login to Reply
Date: 10/14/2015 6:25:00 PM
Mark - this poem is absolutely a first-rate beauty. Absolutely. From content to form it shines as a keeper, one to be remembered ... CayCay
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/15/2015 3:08:00 AM
If anyone could make me smile after a long and grotty day. Cheers CayCay you're a gem. : )
Date: 10/14/2015 5:34:00 AM
Inspiring and uplifting, well done Mark.. =`)~Olive Eloisa
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/15/2015 3:02:00 AM
Cheers Olive, very kind of you.
Date: 10/14/2015 5:04:00 AM
Beautiful! Anything worth raising need time and attention how much more a child? Loved your parable. 7 . hugs!
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/15/2015 3:00:00 AM
Thank-you Kim. You are like a hammer on a nail, bang on! : )
Date: 10/13/2015 5:23:00 PM
I love the metaphor Mark. Splendidly done.
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/14/2015 3:44:00 AM
Cheers Tim, I really appreciate that, My emotional write before this poem spawned this one, I really appreciated your comments on that one, but I wasn't happy with my inability to write my views. I think I did this time.
Date: 10/13/2015 2:02:00 PM
how inspiring can this splendid tale be, mark... impressed!.. huggs
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/14/2015 3:41:00 AM
Thank you Nette, I'm probably a bit of a dork sometimes with my philosophies, but I really do think that if something/someone is worth our love then it is also worth time and effort. What does upset me is often we see people avoid that one easy approach.
Date: 10/13/2015 9:34:00 AM
What a lovely parable it is oozing with morals and values.Lovely Mark.
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/13/2015 12:31:00 PM
I did a wee venting poem, which I've now deleted, which inspired this write. Thank you very much.
Date: 10/13/2015 4:57:00 AM
This is a gem Mark and I love how you ended it. Children sure needs to be nurtured. A definite favourite for me ;)
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/13/2015 12:27:00 PM
Wilma you are definitely the most beautiful of flowers, and your radiance has warmed this morning. Thank you so much. : )
Date: 10/13/2015 2:58:00 AM
Mark this is beautiful. Both a child and a rose need love and nurturing. This piece is so true on the way you raise a child compared to a rose the pitfalls of the way you do it. Clever relationship shown here. Lovely write Mark.
Login to Reply
Woods    Avatar
Mark Woods
Date: 10/13/2015 3:23:00 AM
Cheers Michael, as you can see my wee vent this morning has had me thinking all day. lol Maybe I'm the last of the great steamers! : )
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad