The red roses are next

My first impression of nature

Was fearing the presence of thorns

Communicating indelicate feelings

Red roses in passionate tongue

 

To cure the diseased pink roses

Petals as illustrations of worth

Not friends from my observations

Bereft of feelings of love

 

A permanent loss of vitality

But when did they die?

When was the moment of death?

The two are not the same to me

 

Been through several wars

Now in the care of the dead

Dying will redirect you here

And the red roses are next

Reviews

[Hayley]

Once again, I'm impressed, which is a big deal :)
The "diseased pink roses" to the red roses, simply a great path of destruction in this poem. The more I think about it, the more this is open to multiple interpretations. It can be taken as a more individual standpoint, a conflict within oneself to "cure the diseased pink roses," the notion of worthlessness. Someone needs to take a risk without "fearing the presence of thorns" from the "first impression of nature." That interpretation can be applied to an aspect of love as well (such a hopeless romantic).
Or, I can view this as the slow decay of ones internal being as portrayed by the exterior. The pink roses are the few aspects of a person that are diseased; this person is slowly dying on the inside, fearing for the good or positive aspects of the personality to succumb to the conflict.
I love a poem that can make me think, analyze it over and over. Well, well, done.

[...]

I really liked this one, Mark. To fear being stung by the thorns of something as beautiful as red roses...such is nature, you are right. It is a fear we learn early on through our life experiences. The last line/title is really powerful. It sounds very ominous but you come to realize by the end of the poem that maybe the roses dying are a good thing. Very nicely done!

[SAGE]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It makes me feel like such an amateur but I’m honored to have access to such a variety of poetic expressions.