This beautiful pem was written by
PALADIN 
for his lvely wife,
SECRETGARDENER



I saw a fragile rose
in a hidden garden
petals moist with dew
  stem green, verdant, alive
I knelt down to pick it
but my hand wavered...
Perhaps it would die
  if plucked, however gently
Perhaps it would wither
  In summer's heat, winter's bite
So I left the rose in the loamy soil
  and sat quietly beside it
Savoring its beauty, eyes closed yet seeing
  unmoving for a hundred years
And the rose grew around me all the while
  climbing without clinging
Wrapping me within its embrace
  until I became as one with it...
Until I was the rose, and the
rose was me
  and I felt its soul, soft and shadowy
And I stayed in the secret garden
                forever....