A Rose in the Battleground
I was waiting to blossom to open my eyes and see my home. I had imagined what it could be like, but the uncertainty kept me anxious.
“It could be a garden in a mansion, or a pot on the sill, a butcher’s hut. or even the gloomy forests.” I had thought. I knew I would be happy either way.”
It was hard to imagine a world without sepals blocking my vision of the beauty that lay behind me. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, hoping to see my home for years to come.
Years of hope and imagination made it hard to believe, but the truth had to dawn.
I looked below to find myself rooted in a battleground, a place where swords would be wielded, fires set ablaze, blood-splattered, emotions deserted.
It took time to realise that was where I had to be, and all I could do was close my eyes and act like I didn’t bother.
There was not another rose I could talk to, and I watched it all alone, every day. The scenes would haunt me at night, but all I could do was suppress the scream and let my tear touch the ground.
They weren’t different warriors every time, just the same ones — people who jump into a war due to emotional outbursts without considering the futility of war.
I saw them clash and kill. Blood would spill, and splatter, all in vain, for no one was certain of what this would reap.
Some were wars for survival. Some were just for ego and hence took longer to dissolve.
The wars would end every time, but the results varied.
Sometimes sorrow, sometimes joy but mostly regret and remorse.
There have been days when I had grown insensitive to the happenings, for I realised it was something they chose over and over again.
They rarely realised,
That it could have been avoided.
That war is not always the solution.
That the result is not worth the lives spared.
That the battle doesn’t kill just the warriors of the war.
That the battle may end, but the scars don’t fade.
If they had bothered to look down at this rose once and got reminded to choose peace, I would have found a greater purpose.
Until that day, I would watch, weep and wait.
