By Cheryl Costello-Forshey
Date: 5 December 1998

The Most Beautiful Flower

The park bench was deserted
as I sat down to read
Beneath the long, straggly branches
of an old willow tree.
Disillusioned by life
with good reason to frown,
For the world was intenton dragging me down.
And if that weren't enough to ruin my day,
A young boy out of breath approached me,
all tired from play.
He stood right before me with his head tilted down
And said with great excitement,
Look what I found In his hand was a flower,
and what a pitiful sight,
With its petals all worn -too little rain, 
too little light.
Wanting him to take his dead flower and go off to play,
I faked a small smile
and then shifted away.
But instead of retreating
he sat next to my side
And placed the flower to his nose
and declared with surprise,
It sure smells pretty and it's beautiful, too.
Thats why I picked it;
here - its for you.
The weed before me was dying or dead,
Not vibrant of colors,
orange, yellow or red.
But I knew I must take it,
or he might never leave.
So I reached for the flower, 
and replied,
But instead of him placing
the flower in my hand,
He held it mid-air without reason or plan.
It was then that 
I noticed for the very first time
That weed-toting boy could not see:he was blind.
I heard my voice quiver,
tears shone like the sun
As I thanked him for picking
the very best one.
You're welcome, 
he smiled,and then ran off to play,
Unaware of the impact
he'd had on my day.I sat there 
and wondered how he managed to see
A self-pitying woman beneath an old willow tree.
How did he know of
my self-indulged plight?
Perhaps from his heart,
blessed with true sight.
Through the eyes of a blind child,
at last I could see
The problem was not with the world;
the problem was me.
And for all of those times
I myself had been blind,
I vowed to see the beauty in life,
and appreciate every second that's mine.
And then I held that wilted flower
up to my nose And breathed in the fragrance
of a beautiful rose
And smiled as I watched that young boy,
another weed in his hand
About to change the life
of an unsuspecting old man.

-author unknown