Rose of Sharon

Just above the highest tide
A mark, a sign, that’s miles wide;
It colors o’er the coastal plain
A rose, the Sharon, nestles grain.

Her reddened glow is valued well
Amidst the base of Mount Carmel.
She doth adorn great Ephraim
And tempts the seas to meet with Him.

The Eastern men declare it so,
A distant place where beauties grow,
Immortal Flower of repute
Divine above a gentle shoot.

The western ships and salty sea,
They also venture there to be
And harvest what the summer brings
That she might dress their queens and kings.

E’en more so is this flower blest
To be the symbol of the best;
The King of kings, the Christ, our Lord
She’s etched into His crown and sword.

For He, the groom, for us, the bride,
He draws His lilies to His side
To give immortal love to her
And so eternal life to stir.

No perfect flower besets the Rose
No lyric challenges her prose.
She gilds and beautifies the same
Which, ‘haps is why you bear her name.

_________
A gift for my mother, Sharon, on her birthday.
28 June A.D. 2012
Some interpretive notes (just in case):

The Rose of Sharon blooms along the coastal Plain of Sharon, just west of the Hills of Ephraim (pronounced “ef-ray-im”), at the base of Mount Carmel (pronounced “Car-mell”). You see the flower growing at the high tide mark. It is a highly prized flower, sought in the days of old by royalty. The Rose eventually became a Christian symbol based on the text from Song of Songs 2:1. The imagery there is that of what the early church considered the perfect and most sturdy flower, the rose, being carried among the more feminine lilies. Thusly, Christ is the perfect bridegroom coming to His bride. Travelers from the orient (China, Korea, etc.) referred to the Rose of Sharon as the immortal flower—a symbol of wisdom.