we were all beautiful once

There were the roses, in the rain.
Don't cut them, I pleaded.
               They won't last, she said.
But they're so beautiful
               where they are.
Agh, we were all beautiful once, she
               said,
and cut them and gave them to me
               in my hand.

[William Carlos Williams {1883-1963}, 'The Act', from Six American Poets]