Maybe once in a lifetime, if you're lucky, you can cross the desert
and come upon a rare flower awaiting its chance for brilliance.
All it needs is shade from the searing sun,
water to quench its thirst, protection from the cruel winds,
and time to unfurl it's true nature in each soft petal.
And when it does, there is a glimpse of beauty that is divine.
Something so fragile in the harshness of such desolation that has
the strength to bloom for a brief moment,
can etch its memory into your soul for eternity.
But the colours begin to fade, the petals begin to fall,
and no matter how many tears you shed
to nourish what once was back to glory,
you realize that you must let go....
your only wish being that in some small way
the flower was able to greet the sun without fear
on the days you stood beside it.
That in some small way it was able to be a moment of radiance
because you were there.
That in some small way it knew someone had glimpsed its beauty,
had inhaled its serenity,
and would forever remember in awe.

She is gone now... my rare flower.
Every day with her I understood how lucky I was to have known her,
watch her bloom for moments of time,
catch a glimpse of the radiance that she held within her for so long.
My only wish was that she felt safe, nurtured,
protected and loved for a time...
that the all too brief days were enough to allow her some joy.