Lotus Flower

(The lotus flower is universally accepted as a symbol of estranged love and the associated empty yearning it entails.)


She always wore his lotus flower dipped in gold around her neck,
With this token, she felt cherished, she felt safe, she felt bedecked,

He had given her this flower -- symbol of his love etern,
Never knowing of the omen, unaware her heart would yearn,

But in time the ancient power could no longer be denied,
And in time the love he promised, could no longer give his bride,

When she should have felt elation as she climbed the stairs of life,
Like the priest within the temple, with his palm he tipped her back,

She was lost, without direction, with no compass, with no muse,
With no love to keep her balanced, was bewildered and confused,

How to heal the empty yearning that she felt, his love had gone,
Where could she obtain catharsis for the pain, she felt withdrawn.

Through the veil of inconsistencies that shadow her in life,
He is there and she can feel him, she can see him still, his wife,

Being brave was just a decoy, just a sham to show outside,
Just an act that she invented as she salvaged wounded pride,

Once again before the mountain, she is standing, feeling small,
Once again he asks acceptance, she again feels numbing pall,

Can she once again float backward to a time of joyful bliss,
Can she once again reach for him, to accept his hand, his kiss?

No, his love's a lotus flower, filled with half truths, filled with lies,
Like the beauty of the lotus, hiding pain behind disguise,

At last where is the lotus flower, like their love, it now has gone,
Like that dreaded fateful finger, having writ, it has moved on.

© 2008 Petit Poet