Mr.Ben used to say to his friends,
"Take time to smell the roses
As you go through your days
For their beauty soon fades away."

"It's delicate,delicate as your lives.
Take time, gaze upon the rose."
And his friends did just that
They loved this man, and came to love
The roses too--for what he said was true.

Ben's life was not a happy one--
A fire had taken his wife and family
When they were very young.
A sad,poor man,yet he seemed to
bring happiness when around.

One day,a girl going to school saw
An old man bent over a rose bush.
Inside,she told her teacher,
"I saw Mr. Ben--He was smelling roses again."
Her teacher sighed,"But,child,
He's no longer alive--while you were
visiting your granny as she lay sick,
Old sweet Mr.Ben died."

Same day,after school,teacher saw
An unusual form, like an old man--
Though familiar it seemed--
Bending low as if to pick a rose.
She said,"It can't be--
what's wrong with me?
But it looks so much like him!"
The form turned at her voice--and she Knew then--it was the spirit of Mr. Ben!