Stop and Smell the Roses

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I took my daughter walking through the gardens yesterday.
She had the energy of youth; she ran along the way
until I stopped and sat.  She looked back and yelled at me
asking what was wrong. I said, "There's something you should see."

An inquisitive look flashed across her smiling face
as she skipped back to me and my warm embrace.
She sat down beside me on the old weathered park bench.
Her childlike curiosity was the kind you couldn't quench.

I showed her all the flowers and all that she had missed -
the colors and the shapes and all the beauty that exists.
We hurry past it every day and we often overlook
the beauty of a flower, the laughter of a brook.

I'm sure that in my righteousness, I used some old clichés
to underscore the lessons that every platitude conveys.
Wrapped up in all my smugness, I put her to the test.
"Of all the things you learned today, which one was the best?"

Her forehead creased, her eyes went dark, and suddenly she smiled.
"Stop and smell with noses."  Life lessons from my child!
In my haste to point out beauty, I had forgotten for a while
all the beauty I had missed that resided in her smile!

Children have a simple way of always speaking truth.
Their openness is one of the advantages of youth.
They love without condition in a way that's pure.
Keep that child within you; don't lose it as you mature.


Notes
Sorry for the clichéd title .
Word Count: 251
Line Count: 25

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Ken