See them as Roses

She shuffles
now
with a cane dragging in her right hand
sifting through garbage
for the deposits on cans
and bottles
she lives in a house
though her clothes are soiled
tattered
she has a name
though few know it
and more often
she is spoken to
if at all
in epithets
in gentrification
she is unwanted
as vermin
yet
yet
she
to some
who can see
with their hearts
is a perfect flower
created by love
nurtured
by beauty light warmth
O
to learn
to see with them!
to see angels perched in trees
to hear birds whistling to the Lord
to see God picking through refuse
looking for a Rose