The Roses In The Wind

Written upon the untimely death of a classmate's father

Morose crowds and drooping faces
In a sad world full of blues;
Neon hearts and black suitcases,
Glowing showers of painful hues.

A thousand lights adorn our way
On the staircase to heaven's call.
With heavy hearts drenched in grey
We escalate to grim recall.

In a courtyard of dying orchids
A boulevard of roses grows.
We die our deaths and leave our kids
Like roses among winds that blow.

We add some sugar to a pinch of spice
To sweeten the buds of our life's palate.
When life goes mute, truth finds its voice,
Revealing our life's true palette.

Today, tomorrow. No one knows
When we die, at whose behest.
With each mournful day that goes
Let us strive to give our best.

The bougainvillea now spreads abloom
Like a warm touch to a shivering face.
Maybe all in life is not in gloom.
Maybe there's life in death's embrace.

Reviews

[Linda Marie Van Tassell]

Mythology and hypotheticals aside, there is life after death. My father passed over when I was just four and my mother passed over this past October. They are both gone, but life goes on - in me.

Death and dying and life after death have always been fascinating for man.

I love the analogy of roses in the wind. Despite rain, windstorms, and the death that comes with the change of seasons, there is always a rebirth and a renewal as a new rose blossoms into being.

If nothing else, perhaps our state of consciousness travels onward to a higher plane of understanding. Perhaps, "death" as we know it is really liberation for the soul.

Personally speaking, if I were a rose, I would throw my petals to the wind, dance naked in the rain, hop a whirly breeze, and dance like a dervish into the sunset.

I think our sorrows come from being trapped in the prison of our earthy bodies. Once released from this prison, the soul is free to follow its path to spiritual awakening and illumination.

A drop of water becomes vapor, which is invisible, yet vapor materializes into billowing clouds, and from clouds rain falls back to earth, forming river torrents and eventually merging into the sea. Has the drop of water died along the way? No, it undergoes a new expression at each stage. Likewise, the idea that I have a fixed body locked in space and time is a mirage. Any drop of water inside my body could have been ocean, cloud, river, or spring the day before. I remind myself of this fact when the bonds of daily life squeeze too tight.

[Cristal Bridges]

I like this a lot. What are we living for if we are not to believe that there is something after we die. We have children to make the cycle continue, to leave a part of ourselves in the world when we pass. But it is us and only us who can live our own lives. Life is not worth living if there's not something to greet us in death. There has to be a brilliant dash when it's gone. Otherwise there would not be so much fear of what's to come.


I really loved this! I love the rhyme but I love that it gives a message in it as well. It gives the reader hope and I love poems that do that. Great writing and great poem! :)

[KatiePie]

This made me smile :)
It really is beautiful, the way you word things to make it seem like everything is going to be okay even when it's all going wrong, is just plain stunning.
The metaphors you use, as always are astoundingly gorgeous and take my breath away a little more with each piece of your that I read.
Amazing work

[R E Tree]

I enjoyed the first stanza it really got me drawn to the rest of the poem. The rhyming words work so well creating a beautiful flow as I read it in my head I felt like reading out loud to make myself sound clear and smart. But it's your poem so you deserve all the credit. I would have changed the title because when I got to the second stanza it took me away from roses in the wind altogether. I felt I was taken somewhere completely different. But I still enjoyed it

[LittleMadGirl]

This poem reminds me of the Stones "Paint it black" and "candle in the wind" at the same time ...
It's so sad and almost perfect

The only thing I disliked (a bit) was the change of mood in the 5th stanza... I thik it's good, how the charakter develops and doesn't end up griefing, but I think the last line seems too enthusiastic... but that's my personal opinion and I think there are not so many people who would agree with me

But the imagery is clever and beautiful! I really love it

This one goes to my library =)

[deeps]

Thi is wonderful awesome rhyme scheme
It's a Sad write but very well written

[Coyote Poetry]

A sad and beautiful poem. Death is the great mystery. I hope to join my father in the big hunting ground with the Native Americans. I like the last lines. You left the readers with a very good question. A excellent poem.
Coyote