The lotus

To want but to hold back,
Self control,
To listen even if you do not know why,
Obedience,
Is like a lotus in water,
Tugged hither tither,
And yet,
Does not float away or die,
It keeps its roots,
And from mud,
A beautiful flower,
Rises above the current,
And becomes one,
That never drowns in the flood.

~Rei Shiori