Roses

March 24, 2011

I have known you roses, far across the sea

Braving the blistering humidity,

Your beauty tried in a struggle to survive.

In your home of light do you remember me?

I have seen you, roses, where the cool Pacific winds

Anoint you with their fleeting fog that binds

Lover to lover who would forever live

Far from the ugliness of human minds

Who distort and darken beauty with their thought.

O roses with the power poets sought

When poetry and rhythm were alive

And metred the soul of loveliness you caught

Surviving in hostile climates to withstand

Torrential rain, to grow upon the sand.

In the harshest of conditions still you thrive

And from the wakened heart such love command

As one who wears intoxicating perfume

Walking through a crowded living room

Cannot vie with the fragrance that you give

Dispenser of life's penetrating gloom.

I love you roses and I love you well,

But sudden spring still holds me in its spell

When irises and peonies arrive

Bringing heaven's touch to all our self-made hell.