For My Friend

I have a friend who I will be visiting in France this August. She is kind hearted, inspiring, thought provoking, and funny. I can tell her anything and she never passes judgement....just wisdom. With all she's gone through and is currently going through, she never wavers in her enthusiasm and passion for life and all it has to offer. She sees the beauty in the good and the bad. For National Poetry Month, I dedicate this poem to her:

The Rose Still Grows Beyond The Wall

Near a shady wall a rose once grew,
Budded and blossomed in God's free light,
Watered and fed by morning dew,
Shedding its sweetness day and night.

As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height,
It came to a crevice in the wall,
Through which there shone a beam of light.

Onward it crept with added strength,
With never a thought of fear or pride.
It followed the light through the crevice's length
And unfolded itself on the other side.

The light, the dew, the broadening view
Were found the same as they were before;
And it lost itself in beauties new,
Breathing its fragrance more and more.

Shall claim of death cause us to grieve,
And make our courage faint or fail?
Nay! Let us faith and hope receive:
The rose still grows beyond the wall.

Scattering fragrance far and wide,
Just as it did in days of yore,
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will for evermore.
A.L. Frink.