For the Sake of a Rose

be in bloom

for the sake of a rose

a history of flowers

in vases and bowls

piled high with potential

and twisting the plot

i won't try to keep

something i haven't got

7 in the evening

by the dandelion's clock

when midnight arrives

it will come as a shock

febrile and heavy

and flirting with sleep

as thick as my shadow

and three times as steep

stretching and straining

and grasping at straws

without learning to listen

or learning to pause

all of our stories

are cobwebs and lies

everyone suffers

and everything dies

physical comforts and

states of desire

parlours and pageants

and funerals pyres

lovers you've gathered

and lovers you've spurned

i won't try to keep

something i haven't earned

this treasure that has been

entrusted to me

wreath'd in her own

sweet halo of sleep

i will keep time

in poetry and prose

and she'll be in bloom

for the sake of a rose

Before I had children, I spent a long time doing mental gymnastics, trying to figure out whether it was ethical to have children. Many words have been written on this question, by people much more qualified than I am, so I will not take you on this philosophical journey with me. I will just let you know where I landed: Having children, raising them to be thoughtful, intentional humans (for me, partly made possible by being born into extraordinarily privileged circumstances), loving them and teaching them to love in their turn... is Good. Having children is the Last Act of Great Hope. It says that this painful, finite human life is worth living. It is ok to let a thing exist for the sake of its own beauty. Not everything has to be for something. You can just have children because you want to. Because it's a great adventure. Because the love parents have for their children is transformational and unmatched in human experience.

Anyway, this song is not about the answer I arrived at, but the journey I went on to get there. Enjoy <3