Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, scribed The Bard of Avon. And yet the rose bush endures, bringing forth new blooms to add color and fragrance to each new season. What is your perspective on this? Is not the bush still sacred when its rose essence lies dormant?

The heart is like that rose bush. Each flowering inevitably fades, leaving behind only leaves and thorns.

Do not hold onto “love” as a bloom on a stem, held firmly within your grasp. That which is an expression of love is not Love itself.

For Love cannot be possessed. It is only to be admired and venerated.

Wear your Love not as fine jewelry, but rather as a garland around your neck, as one would wear for a wedding in an exotic destination.

One can hold on to its dried petals as a keepsake, but Love’s full bloom and bright color is only to be experienced in the present moment.

With all of my love,

I am Paul the Venetian