6
Memory's Rosary.
One magnolia's 'whelming sweetness, One white rose of magic light,One sweet lily of the valley, Hiding 'neath her broad leaves' weight.
And a scarlet rose of splendour, Brilliant in its ardent glow,Born and nursed in mountain breezes, Nor had died in drift of snow.
Close it clung like Alpine flowret, Thornless, brilliant evermore,Wafting Tuscan recollections Of a church, a ring, a prayer.
Last, not least, a spray whose freshness, Deathless through the rifts of time,Shading faults, and hiding follies, Ivy, green in every clime.
Rich I was that morning's ramble; With my treasures in my hand,Then returned to life's steep pathway, Treading lightly life's grey sand.