Date:         Wed, 7 Jan 1998 05:55:48 -0500
From: Words from the Monastery <jackechs@EROLS.COM>
Subject:      [WRITERS] SUB: VDC: My Rose to You (poem)

The 1998 WRITERs' Valentine's Day Contest

Remember, save your critiques please and send you entries to Michelle
<winebird@inreach.com> and me <jackechs@erols.com> not the list for entry
into the contest.

*****

                        My Rose to You

A rose often tells a tale of love and desire -- freely given;
        Of yielding to a gentle touch, a sweet kiss, or a warm embrace;
        Of willingly surrendering the whole person to someone loved;
        Of sharing all the gentle secrets of body, mind, and soul;
        Of keeping hearts forever bound by love and adoration;
        Of coming together as one body, one mind, one spirit.

A rose sometimes tells a tale of love and desire -- sadly denied;
        Of a touch or kiss or embrace that can never be;
        Of love for beauty but not that precious beauty so deep inside;
        Of yearning for each other so strongly that it brings pain;
        Of being near enough to hear words of love, and yet so very very
far away;
        Of hearts so far apart but joined by words so dear and sweet.

But my rose to you tells this tale,
        Of my love for you forever;
        Of my need to feel your touch;
        Of my yearning to feel your lips against mine;
        Of my beating heart when you smile at me;
        Of my desire for you as your sweetness overpowers me;
        And of my pain in knowing you can never be mine.