A Stained Red Rose

I actually wanted to name this: Love a cautionary tale. But thought against it because it wasn't pessimistic enough.

A Stained Red Rose 

By

Carlos Lorenzo Estrada 

We are the echoes of our broken hearts.

Their accumulations lasting; before departs

This state of mind we learn to live from depths within

To find solace in the darkness of our frailed sin.

The pain that is dulled by a changing tide

Stripped of all our worthlessness and petty pride.

Gone is all the love that we could ever give.

Yet hope is what remains, in hearts that still forgive.  

And truth be told only love can replenish love.

For these matters of the heart are complications of

A soul that oft refuses to concede its vain belief 

And seeks the worst that love can give in false relief.

So we shall satiate the yearning in the drowning of our woe

Dance with nameless strangers who we'll never really know.

To just remind ourselves that we can truly feel again 

In an endless game of make believe that we pretend.

So be cautious of the thorned red rose given to your heart.

A precious gift, insidious, reflects of a love which will depart.

Author's Note

A rose by any other name.....enough with the bard already! I was trying to write happy stuff today. Like floating clouds, blue skies, bird singing, you know a typical lovely day. But nope my muse wasn't having it. She was laying on my sofa in shear silk scarves looking like Cate Blanchett with a very sensual English accent. I just couldn't ignore her. Makes me feel like I want to hand her a rose with extra thorns. But who am I kidding she looks like Cate Blanchett I tell you! What kind of idiot would give her a rose with thorns...are you crazy. Yes my dear I'm heading to the store now to get you a bottle of Champagne. (Who am I kidding I could only afford thunderbird) Anyway feel free to leave thoughts below.

Reviews

[Vertigo Cat1111]

Each and every stanza here is so, so wonderful and breathtaking. A wonderful reminder too and I can feel the emotion that was poured in and put into every word. 'We are the echoes of our broken hearts' this is the kind of work that'd be famous, on wall art, tattooed, even! This is wonderful, an anthem of all kinds for people who have been in the same or similar situations. If love isn't taken care of the right way, its thorns can quickly become far more prominent- and that's scary. But the message you put into this wraps up all that pain into here, into a beautiful piece. Thank you for sharing. (:

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you so much colacat for your words. I truly appreciate the comment on this work. It is a very somber piece and reveals the darker aspects of love. We can never know the true intentions of a person's heart we can only hope. And all we truly control is how we will love and give it. In some ways this poem takes me back to 81 and the TV series based on the Steinbeck novel East of Eden. In it the mother is incapable of loving her two sons and reads them with a cold indifference because that was all she had ever known of love in her life. It was truly heartbreaking and a sad parable that spoke of the darker aspects of love and the destruction it has wrought in its wake. This poem speaks to those similar ills. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me on this poem.

[Vertigo Cat1111]

It was my pleasure! Hearing other people's side, opinions, stories is always such a wonderful experience.

[.]

What a lovely poem on love... Yes it's complicated and thorny, yet so appealing! You can't ignore.... I love the line " Only love can replenish love", it's so true. The pain lingers yet we tend to jump again . It's a vicious circle we love to create. Very nice, truthful, yet uplifting poem

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you my friend. That is one of my favorite lines in the poem. You are right it is a viscous cycle doomed to repeat because love means so much to us. We can only be better human beings when we truly learn to love better. Thank you my friend for your thoughts.

[.]

You are so welcome...

[Chris Shaw]

A reminder that even the most beautiful red rose has thorns. And it can pierce the skin and draw blood. Love has to be nurtured or it can too easily be left discarded by the wayside. So much pain in this poem Carlos, makes me wonder whether after such loss you'd want to go down that path again. Wonderfully written, as all your work is.
.
Chris

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Chris for your comment. Everything you have mentioned is true about this poem. Love can truly change a person for the worse if they experienced a type of relationship that was destructive and emotionally painful as well as scarring. As an example I know after my parents divorce my mother became a bit detached and unavailable emotionally. She had married young and wanted to experience the life she didn't have during her youthful days. Despite have three boy two of which were entertaining their early teens. There was a sense of abandonment I felt in those years as I reflect upon them now. Perhaps my muse simply wanted me to capture it in words. I rarely speak of my mother in any of my work because during the more important years of my life it had always been my grandmother who raised me during these times. I myself tend to be more optimistic when it comes to love. I hope no one takes this work as any sort of love advice because it truly was not meant to be so. It is only meant to convey a point of view how damaging the emotion can be for some that it irrevocably changes their heart in a profound destructive way. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this work.

[Chris Shaw]

And thank you too Carlos for sharing a part of you with me.

[Jasmin]

So much pain poured in this poem. The question is what kind of love are you searching for?

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Jasmin for the comment on this poem. As the writer of this piece I should preface my answer by saying this particular piece in no way reflects my own personal current situation. At least I hope it doesn't because it really is a very dark pessimistic view on love. I would contend that it may have been inspired by an amalgamation of several people I know in life who have endured extremely bad experiences with love that it changed them. Proof reading this poem several times left me feeling as if I were viewing some sort of tragedy of the soul. I myself tend to have a more optimistic view on love from my own perspective. I truly hope no one takes this work as some sort of advice on love. It is simply the reflections of a darker kind of love which does exist in some people, just not me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this poem.

[Jasmin]

Apology. I thought it belongs to you.

[EmeraldHeart]

Dance with nameless strangers who we'll never really know.

This verse really touched me to my core. I absolutely love this poem.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Jasmin for this comment. That sentence is very emotional because it tends to be true. There are times when someone has their heart broken they will just go and be with someone who they don't really know because they want to feel alive again and not pain. They want to forget about the love that destroyed their heart and life. They want to feel something else other than sadness. Unfortunately they fail to see that only love can heal a broken heart. Trying to forget love only makes you yearn for it more. Thank you again for your thoughts I truly appreciate it.

[EmeraldHeart]

Thank you for responding to my comment. But the comment wasn't from Jasmin it was from me. EmerldHeart. But I completely agree with what you are saying.

[John the Baptist]

I think the stained red rose is conditional love, that quid pro quo variety that gives only to get. The last lines reflect the kinds of situations this kind of love produces. Sadly, some never go beyond this level, ending up being bitter at those they feel have wronged them.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

That is an incredibly insightful comment my friend. And actually mirrors the darkness of this poem in all honesty. My previous two submissions were easy to interpret this one for me slightly so personally. Perhaps because I have never been broken from love in this way. Not that I have never been devastated by love, simply not to the point I would view myself as an object to be used or use others for simple pleasures. To make thing transactional in effect. You really have me thinking I should perhaps place a disclaimer on this piece so no one takes it literal as love advice. Cringe....I hope not haha. Thank you again John for your very illuminating thoughts.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I think Hamlet's Ophelia could have written this one....

so forlorn, but so well done...

j.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you Jacob you are too kind my friend. As the wildfires burn our mountains down to dirt I was hoping to write something more pleasant and hopeful. But alas my muse has done me wrong. Burdened me with heavy heart and dreary song, geez once I start I can't stop. I really wanted to write something akin to a Bob Ross painting but again betrayed by the vile whispers of my muse who truly does resemble Cate Blanchett. I can't be too mad at her though because she did give me "In Brevity" after all. This one was more her idea. I'm actually trying to write a short story about a goblin named Pickle. Oh well. Thank you again my friend. To be or not to....I swear once I get started I can't stop.