--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Anon. for the Era collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 5 number: 5 published: 1902-03 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Anon. for the Era, "My Flower of Love. A Poem," *Improvement Era* 5, no. 5 (March 1902): 371–372.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0505unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0505unse start_page: 371 end_page: 372 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1902-03) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0505unse publication_year: 1902 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1902, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # My Flower of Love. A Poem MY FLOWER OF LOVE. WRITTEN FOR THE ERA. When life was young, — its promises of bliss Held, as it were, within my one slim hand, I gaily gave my kingdom for a kiss, And planted Love's fair seed in shining sand. The sun filtered among the crystals, and the grains Of sand appeared to me as virgin gold. And summer sent her gentle, pattering rains, Until Love's leaf appeared above the mold. Ah, how I watched it! How I nursed the shoot Of tender green, as mothers 'fend their young; And dug with care about the weakling root; And how my hopes upon its budding hung! And how I wept when floods of bitterness Washed from the plant the shifting sands away; And autumn winds, searing and pitiless, Laid bare the shriveled roots for swift decay. 372 IMPROVEMENT ERA. "My love is gone," I cried, and hid my face, Straightway refusing to be comforted: "Life holds no more of her high-crowning grace, Nor hope, nor joy for planting, in its stead!" Blinded by grief, storm-beaten, bruised, dismayed, Broken by suffering, I turn to hide My disappointment in the solitude, As wounded roe upon the mountain si da. Deep in the virgin forest's dim recess, I lean my head upon a cold, hard stone; Arrest my footsteps in the wilderness, And take no note of how the time has flown. When lo! within a crevice of the rock, Chiseled by time, and watered by my tears, Amid disintegrated stone and moss, A miracle of miracles appears. My plant of love! strong, tender, verdant, blessed; Blooming and fragrant, beautiful as heaven; Deep-rooted, mountain-shielded, wind-caressed! ■ New lease of life, with thee, my flower, is given.