Immortal Rose Poem by L MILTON HANKINS

Gentle morning breezes kiss the budding rose
And nurse it in the sturdy cradle vine
Scented dewdrops linger with the morn
To bathe the child in clear and bubbly wine.
Soon after nature's flower child is born
The news is hastened on the fragile wing
Ecstatic purrs announce the hummingbird
Who comes to dedicate this precious thing.
Faint whispers in the misty air are heard
Before responses chanted fade to sighs
And aged petals dip to touch the earth
This rose may wave immortal to the skies.

[This poem was originally written for my
first anthology, The Lady in the Pink Hat,
Candor Press,1969.]