How the Rose Got Its Thorns

Before the turtle was born;
Before the stars learned their names;
Before yes, before no;
Before the alphabet was formed;
Before lightening dreamed of the mason jar;
Before snow found its dance;
We were waiting for the rose.

When the moon was boiling;
When the sun was drowning;
When the whirlwind
built a ladder into the abyss;
When woman was formed
from the folds of the earth
And man was formed from woman;
We were waiting on the rose.

The Queen of Diamonds kissed the Alaskan sky.
The Jack of Clubs sailed the Cape of Good Hope.
The King of Spades walked through the Village.
The Ace of Hearts held its breath.
We were waiting for the rose.


And the meadows were formed
and the mountains were raised
and the trees learned their blossom
and bees sang their mornings
and the oceans washed the land
and the land fed the ocean.

The sheep met the meadows.
And the horses, and the pigs, the hens,
the immodest monkey, the shy elephant,
all did their part.
All, all, brought their gift for the rose.

Only then did the rose appear.

Where have you been, asked the great dome.
How long we have waited, said the dust.
How long I have sought you, said the sea.
Where have you been, asked the distant lights.
Where have been, said the leviathan.
The cattle, the sheep, the pigs, the horses,
the elephant, the tiger, the bison, the ostrich,
the mountain lion, all in unison cried:
Where have you been, we've waited so long.

Then the thunder spoke.
Then spoke the Holy Mountain.
Then spoke the Lord of All,
The Lover of the Heights and Depths,
Then spoke the Mother and Father,
Then spoke the infinite Yes and the intimate No.
Then spoke the High Holy One,
the First and Last, the Maker and Defender of All:
It was a whisper as loud as a thousand hurricanes;
a shout as soft as nightingales and whippoorwills:
"Where have you been?"

And there the rose stood.

"Why have you kept us waiting?"
came the voice.

And the rose
swallowed
its
teeth.