A Rose

Can the gift of flowers ever really heal a hurt?

There were no more words you said
none worth saying loud
only thoughts
swimming wildly
running in never ending circles
wishing days could turn back

Forgiveness lingered
not daring to be
playful it danced
turning us into fools

A man
a woman
believing wounds of yesterdays war
may not be healed

Pain raged
complicated
silent
in a garden
deep among the roses
they grew with simple desires
to live " to be

The scent of rose
drew memories of better days
still I could not touch you
could not look to your eyes
and you
could not speak

Anger sparked
you reached out
snapped a rose from life
watched it hang from your fingers
death " the end " it’s over
screamed back

You offered the little sacrifice to me
heavy scent of perfume
washed over me
I saw the rose you first gave
the days when we were bashful
in love and admiration

Words came sudden
death gave you speech

Once more I found your eyes
beautiful
shining with apology
mine apologised in return

Our wounds of war closed
we survived another day

But
for how long
will frail love
defeat our monsters?

How many days

can the gift of a rose last?

Author's Note

Image is my own. Manipulated it with some art effects. Here's the original post/photo. https://wordmusing.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/a-rose/

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

how many apologies can there be? again i relate to your words. my first ex and i had so many bad patches and then we would always make up...apologize to each other...it was one of those things where we would imagine life without each other, and just couldn't---and yet despite ourselves we stayed together longer than we probably should.

those emotions are such a ride...i really like your use of personification....and your writing cries out with feeling, much more so than...form...and that attracts my reader's interest.

j.

[Suzy Hazelwood]

Oh yes, I know what you mean, the emotional ties to a partner are quite incredible, overwhelming, and sometimes hard to understand why such great feelings existed when having moved on and looking back at it all. I think emotions can often be illusionary and yet feel utterly convincing at the the time.... an uncomfortable ride!

Feeling is what means the most to me when reading, and that's something I'm always aiming at with all my writing, so thank you Jacob, that's very encouraging! Thanks so much for taking the time to read my work, very much appreciated! :o)

[andrew mitchell]

A profound write. Does the gift of flowers mend the hurt? I'm not sure it does fully but its a truce offering, a new start, a message without words of a love still hidden. Its a link or branch to keep the bond alive while hearts mend I think.:):) Lovely words.

[Nadia Gerassimenko]

"Words came sudden
death gave you speech"
That's truly powerful. Words can be powerful. They can heal or they can cause "la petite mort" inside from which one can never wake up from. And how dare the person give a rose during a conflict. Rose--symbol of love--is being disgraced by such dishonorable action...but that's just my opinion!

[Suzy Hazelwood]

Thank you so much Nadia! I think we often undervalue the power words have. Maybe it's familiarity, it's every day, every minute, each second - we forget they are energy. Haha...yes, how dare they indeed!! Flowers are so overused to heal rifts and soothe a conflict. Flowers give life, but like animals they are much abused and used by humans! :o(

[Roland Petrov]

Seashells won't work at all, and flowers are only a temporary fix. This is devastating news. Now what?

[Suzy Hazelwood]

You made me laugh with all your comments Roland *still laughing* :oD There is always chocolate - isn't there?!! Just remembering my chocolate lover micropoem on Jottify! ;o) And of course there is always the girls best friend (apparently) diamonds!!!

[Roland Petrov]

So that's what they're all holding out for: chocolate and diamonds! I'm sticking to seashells and flowers no matter what.

[Suzy Hazelwood]

Much more sensible!! ;o)

[Brian Csati]

I love the idea of a rose. In poetry it always delivers emotionally charged verse, whether joyful or sad, and always respectable. Very heart felt writing here. I always appreciate lengthy poems as well.

Check out my poem, "Spirit of the Setting Blaze." (uses the concept of roses as well)

-Brian Csati

[Suzy Hazelwood]

You're right, the rose can be used in different emotional ways, useful flower!! Thank you so much Brian! I will check out your work as with all the other commenters, but got to fly off elsewhere right now, I will be back!

[SleeplessVolcano]

You ask the million dollar question........and without wanting to sound like a hopeless romantic, but true love can conquer broken love too. You painted beautifully that "stuck" reality people in long-term relationships often experience.......the convenient world-view is to call it quits, but my gut feelings says that with sufficient mutual effort, any rift can be resolved......

Great poetry!

[Suzy Hazelwood]

Million dollar question it is! You are allowed to be a hopeless romantic, nothing wrong with that at all. I think if the love really is 'true' as in "I care for the well-being of this person" and not "If only they could see everything my way" which is often how it goes! ;o) Then yes, I think love can conquer terrible traumas and resolve a lot, but real love that is honestly real, is rare. Thank you so much for that lovely thoughtful comment, much appreciated! :o)

[coffeedigest]

This piece truly brought me into this moment and kept me there. The 4th stanza
"Pain raged
complicated
silent
in a garden
deep among the roses
they grew with simple desires
to live " to be"

Brought unbelievable emotion to the piece.

Well done!

[Suzy Hazelwood]

Thank you so much, that's very kind of you indeed!! :o)

[alifeacoustic]

Beautiful and heart wrenching words, said so beautifully.
Forgiveness lingered
not daring to be
playful it danced
turning us into fools... perfectly captured that gnawing hurt.
The ending is sublime.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I really enjoyed reading it.

[Suzy Hazelwood]

Thank you very much for your kind words! :o)

[alifeacoustic]

You are vey welcome. :-)