The Italian C... Rose

Discovery+Poetry

Italy; soft music over beautiful scenery.

A glass of wine fills the heart with amore.

It drives the pen in this unwritten story.

Man and woman smell the flowers here,

They're everywhere, even in the wine

They almost smell grapes in the ethanol

And carbon dioxide, enough to make

Them wonder how it's combined.

Off to the vineyard. Among the vines

You see rosebushes, but why? The truth.

Both rosebushes and grapevines

Are susceptible to powdery mildew.

A disease winemakers long knew.

It affects the roses at an earlier stage

Then it does the grapes, so they plant

Rosebushes to see it for the vine's sake.

But wait, winemakers noticed

Fewer parasites attacked the grapes

And the rose's pollen grew dramatically.

But wait, after careful study

The winemakers learned

The roses used the pollen to attract

The parasites and then fed on them all.

Who thought a rose could be a carnivore?

Like the Pitcher Plant or the Venus Flytrap,

Or my favorite, the Cobra Plant?

The Carnivorous Rose

An unknown species with huge benefits

For the vineyards and the people.

The Carnivorous Rose is a hero few know.

Nov 2, 2020

Author's Note

What made reading this worthwhile for you?

Reviews

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Now you have taught me something completely new as you share this fact of nature with your readers. Amazing what nature can do and how man can study it and harness it for his own purpose. I'll drink to that and to a creative educational verse!