modern day philosophy found in yo' own front yard

i got this rose bush outside, barely clinging to life. it's as old, if not, older than me. in the attempts to center self and to revert back to the earth, i decided to try to save it. after all, saving it runs parallel to the act of saving me. we grew up together.

after reading a garden book that i have borrowed from an ex's mother (and one that i have yet to return), i have read that the only way to save it is to prune the shit out of it. prune all the dead and dying matter down to its main stems, its center.

so i did and i was left with rose bush arms reaching for the sky, begging for the sky to cover its bare body. it looks almost ashamed to be there, bare for the world to see. i felt sorry and regret crept in as i might have cut just a little too much.

weeks rolled by and this morning, i realized that leaves has adorned the once scraggly, near-death rose bush. new branches has grown, spreading leaves out, trying to catch the sun. supple, swaying in the wind. i even saw a few rosebuds. lavender, yellow, red.

see, pruning is cutting out dead parts to improve growth. we exert energy in everything we do, including death. as we cut out things that are dying or dead to us, we can spend that energy LIVING.

imagine that.