In a village high in the mountains of South America
Lives the legend of the rose. 
This legend is a tale centuries old.
It begins with love by a man for a woman, and the road she chose.

The villagers speak of a young man who appeared
Out of the blue one-day with a rose.
He traversed higher up the mountain.
For what purpose, no one really knows.

His return a week later caused quite a commotion.
The villagers had never seen anyone with that much emotion:
"My name is Juan Antonio De La Madrid."  
He proclaimed in a whisper:
"Please get word to my mother and sister."

Only a few heard him speak.
About the dream he had lived earlier that week:
"An angel appeared before me. As I planted my crop,
Then the angel commanded me to stop."

By this time his voice was so low,
That only the old woman tending him heard him say, No!
Hours went by while he did not speak.
And then a young woman from his village fell at his feet.

She wept, and then she listened. As he continued to talk
Speaking of flowers that bloomed on his long journey’s walk.
She listened contently not allowing another sole at his side.
During the night, he suddenly died.

That young woman who witnessed his death
Remained in the village and never left.
One afternoon ten years later,
She smiled and journeyed up the mountain to the top of its crater.

No one knew why she had stayed.
For she refused to talk of the legend he made.
She made that journey every ten years
Speaking only of flowers that magically appeared.

                                        1

Speaking to him that wonderful afternoon.
Then a rose blossomed at his feet,
And he marveled at how the angel chose to speak.

The oldest woman in the village kept the legend alive
Revealing the story of the angel foretelling his demise.
The angel granted him a tribute to the woman he loved,
And that young woman definitely was.

 

 

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Rumor has them saying:” Go to where the sun
Never rests.
Stay on the path and you shall see a tribute of wonder.
It should last for an eternity."

It is said to be the most beautiful rose in the world.
Adorned with floral arrangements that go on forever
Honoring his girl.
For some this legend is only a myth.

Others say it is visible every ten years as his gift.
Wait before you decide.
Talk to the oldest woman of your village.
She just might know if a rose can hide.

 

                                   2

 

Copyright © 2000 by Glenn Allen Nolen
All Rights Reserved

 

 

There once was this bottle in the ocean.
It came to the beach with the tide.
Someone said: "It should be opened."
That day is when people started to cry.
The label read: Emotion - Laughter, Tears and Devotion,
But no one knew the reason why.

 

Until then there had been no music,
No laughter, nor joy.
Life had a blandness.
A dreary same kind of dampness
That never led anyone to make noise.

 

Love was uncommon.
People had no reason to live.
It was only when someone saw that bottle a bobbin'.
That people started to give.

Who gave the gift of emotion?
No one seemed to know.
It certainly caused quite a commotion,
But it allowed people to grow.

 

That bottle wasn't seen for a very long time.
Then it was found one day at the bottom of an old mine.
The label did read: Emotion - Laughter, Tears, and Devotion.
On a background were the wings of a dove.
And these few words: A Product of Courtney's Love. 
 
Copyright © 2000 by Glenn Allen Nolen
All Rights Reserved

 

Note from the Author:

 

Water Dome, Legend of the Rose, Courtney's Earth, and Pecan Sheller's are four of my favorite poems. Pecan Sheller's photographs provided by Work Projects Administration: Pecan Sheller's of San Antonio, 1939. Water Dome maps are from Walter Sullivan: Quest for a Continent, 1957 and Barney Brewster: Antarctica: Wilderness at Risk, 1982. Water Dome photographs are from: Space Photo's of Earth Gallery - Antarctica @ http://www.portaec.net/earth/antarctica/antarctica.shtml. Courtney's Earth photographs are from NASA Observatorium @ http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/core.shtml.html. And the Big Room photographs are from http://www.seds.org/hst/hst.html. Further information on the Pecan Sheller's Strike of 1938 is available at Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1775-2000 @ http://womhist.alexanderstreet.com/.

 

Comments:

 

31 January 2005

 

“It [Water Dome] includes a brief history of just about every early Antarctic explorer! I wasn't expecting that. I also wasn't expecting the epic nature of the poem. It reminds me (in length) of my high school days, reading Longfellow's "Evangeline." Very impressive.”

 

David Finfrock
Chief Meteorologist
KXAS-TV NBC5
Dallas-Fort Worth