Silver Roses

In the silence of the night,
I turned my eye inward.
Walked paths unknown and unseen,
    through loss and hardship untold,
    winding vaguely nowhere.
And, as I came over hill,
    I beheld a shimmering sea.
Its waves sparkling in the sunlight,
    stretching across my sight,
    and flowing away forever,
    over the horizon.
And a strand of land divided the waters,
    a narrow path to the infinitely far shore.
I drew close,
    but upon my arrival found things not as they seemed.
What once was land now was river,
    a river of love, its source, from outside me,
    from through the mists that surround my heart,
    from you.
And, what once was ocean was field,
    a field of silver roses.
Each flower dancing happily in the breeze.
At first, I thought
    them to be pieces of my love for thee.
Then my love should indeed be great,
    for everywhere were silver roses.
And I bent to peer closely at one,
    the petals shimmering,
    seeming metal, but also as silk and rabbit hair.
Then I saw that each petal was my love,
    though the number of roses was great;
They were not enough to hold my love,
    unless each petal should be made,
    a great and wondrous piece.
Indeed, if I gave even a petal to someone,
    they should honor it as their most valuable possession,
    so great in love is each.
But, they grow only for you and no else.
Perfect and unblemished without thorn.
What wondrous thing should make these grow in me?
I turned to your love, the river.
Kneeling, I peered into the crystal water,
    my reflection there.
I did not recognize it,
    it was not the reflection of my face,
    but of my soul which you see -
    which you love.
A wondrous realization of the greatness within;
That I could not see.
Cupping my hands I drank of thee and thy love,
    and knew joy once again,
    as I had never known,
    but knew that it, my heaven,
    was where I belonged,
    and I dove, drowning myself in your love;
Letting my old self die for you.