The Purpose

Waterhouse. The Soul of The Rose, 1908. Private Collection.

In those minutes spent in line for the bathroom

Or sat mindlessly in waiting rooms

The seconds seemingly taking their time

There exists a secret purpose

In the patterns on the ceiling panels

Or the slow-changing stains of sunlight

Even in the individual stitches across the seam of your shirt

Begin the story of the present

It’s an endlessly fleeting tale

Chock-full of cliches and repetition

But the less we pay attention-

The harder it becomes to follow along

We learned the secret once

Through faces coaxed from clouds

Or angels in the snow

But the purpose of growing past familiarity

Is remembering how much we’ll never know.

CITATIONs

Waterhouse, John William. “The Soul Of The Rose.” WikiArt, 6 May 2020, https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-william-waterhouse/the-soul-of-the-rose-1908. Accessed 13 Oct. 2023.