Against Roses
A long eugenic past
reduces roses to
a vain and pampered caste.
Their charm is artifice,
their fragile shell of cells
unfit for wilderness.
Their languid symmetries
and anorexic airs
exalt deformities.
A run of blossoms, thick
and tangled by the road,
displays a truer pick.
Prefer the bindweed vines
that cannot stand alone
yet clench the mossy spines
of trees and grasp as tight
as nightmares or disease
while hoarding hints of light.
By cloning a delight,
obsessing towards some form,
we dull what should excite.
A rose bouquet contrives
to label wordless joy
when nothing true survives.
poem by A.M. Juster
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Rose Bouquet
Behold the precious rose bouquet,
A circle formed by love
And placed with pride and on display
That mere words aren't enough,
To share the thrill, the joy within,
The spectacle in sight,
That surely makes us smile and grin
With unrestrained delight!
Oh, lucky soul that loves the rose,
Its fragrance quite divine,
Such that the poets turn to prose
With compliments each line...
And praise the details one-by-one,
The curling petals spread,
The blossoms reaching for the sun
As to God's light they're led...
Behold the fragile nature here,
A gentle passing thing
And yet this truth stays crystal clear
And leaves us wondering...
Let roses blossom far and wide,
As many as are given,
For all good things are God-supplied
Both here on Earth and Heaven...
The rose was fashioned long ago
With colours old and new
And gardeners truly loved it so,
They did all they could do...
To think, such beauty transcends time,
In gardens young and old...
Each rose bouquet is quite sublime...
Resplendent to behold...
Denis Martindale, copyright, Easter Sunday,2012.
The poem is based on the ceramic sculpture artwork by
Suzy Cooper called Rose Bouquet, shown on bid.tv this
evening here in the UK. The Shopping Channel brings us
many examples of fine art and these add to the beauty
of our homes as the years go by.
(Brompton and Cooper Musical Teacup)
poem by Denis Martindale
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I Carry a Single Rose
I carry a single red Rose
In my tightening hold
For Love is what it propose
At least it’s what I’m told.
It’s fragrance of beauty
Overtakes me with its great power
The air all around me
When I hold a single flower
I grasp the Red Rose ever more tight
Drip, drip red petals fall into the night.
This Rose, a lovely delight
Has already consumed my sense of smell
Now it has stolen my sight
In this symbol of love I dwell
The ruby red petals fill my eyes
Captures the thoughts in my mind
Now I am completely hypnotized
Now I am completely blind.
I grasp the Red Rose ever more tight
Drip, drip red petals fall into the night.
It dazzles me, until it is all I can see
It’s touch so gentle against my cheek
Trapped me inside this beautiful make believe
For my heart, Love it will always seek
The leaves run through my finger tip
As they map a stem so strong and tall
A stem that fit so nicely inside my grip
Its lushes strength adds beauty to it all
I grasp the Red Rose ever more tight
Drip, drip red petals fall into the night.
I hold on for dear life
As my body sets off painful alarms
And now I’m stuck in this strife
Of letting go and hanging on
It’s so perfect, inside my hold
But I can feel the world around me
I can feel it growing cold
Now I am leaving this make believe
I grasp the Red Rose ever more tight
Drip, drip red petals fall into the night.
In a moment of true disgust
I slowly loosen my grasp
And I take away my trust
And wait for my world to collapse
But Pain races through my bones
So I clench a Rose inside my fist
And I realize I am alone
Lost inside this confusing mist
I grasp the Red Rose ever more tight
Drip, drip red petals fall into the night.
And I finally swiftly let go
The Rose falls to the bloody ground
No longer shall my blood flow
No longer shall I be bound
And of this single Red Rose
Petals of Love blinded me to my Pain
Being neither friend nor foe
I wash the blood with tears like rain.
I leave the Rose with all my might
Run, run into the black cold night.
Sweet Perfume
A rose arose with rosy hue,
And made my torn heart, so sparkling new,
A rose arose as roses do,
And warmth for its guise within me grew.
A rose arose with beauty bright,
And gladdened my heart with such delight,
A rose arose as roses might,
And set out great charm before my sight.
A rose arose with summertime,
And imbued my heart with songs sublime,
A rose arose as roses climb,
And showed itself in all its prime.
A rose arose inside the room,
And lifted my heart so full of gloom,
A rose arose as roses bloom,
And fused the air with its sweet perfume.
poem by Ernestine Northover
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Exploitation
The mountains of moss grasping green ~
Hold tight to your agile form ~
Seducing you ever inward ~
Long past Dawns -
Early Morn.
The tree branches reach out-come hither ~
And capture all of your strength ~
Holding fast, taking you captive ~
With their mighty limbs, of great length.
The wilderness always covets, whats not theirs ~
Ever stealing away -
The most unusual and unique -
In other words, the most rare.
You are the ultimate Gem~
The Long sought after Pearl ~
The Prize of a Nation
And: ' A Gift To The World '
Safely hidden, so long, 'neath the wilderness's sanctuary~
Buried, so long, in the deep midnight sea~
But now you must make your-
Escape-
As fast, as your time, will allow-
Before their grasp becomes -
Permanent -
And you become, The Greedy's
'Cash Cow'
poem by Theodora Onken
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A Bouquet Of Roses
A BOUQUET OF ROSES
When greeted by a bouquet of thirty roses
on the anniversary day,
A mixed feeling rose within, and I didn’t
know what to say!
But I thanked the Lord for that special day!
For long I had developed an attitude towards
roses you know,
As I watched its thorns and reddish glow!
When painted like the ‘Sunflower’ they neither
die or fade, -
A visual feast for the eyes, while olfactory nerves
remain dead!
Roses like humans when cut off from their
roots,
They gradually wither and fade, as roses should!
But its lingering perfume forever remains,
As I inhale, - I am wafted beyond the world of
the dead!
- Raj Nandy
- New Delhi
- 12 Feb 09
That Need Is Gone
The need is gone,
For me...
To hold onto,
My past.
That need is gone,
For me...
To hold onto,
My past.
And I,
Once had tried in vain...
To keep everything I knew,
Kept...
In my grasp.
Oh,
The need is gone...
For me,
To hold onto...
My past.
Yes that need is gone,
For me...
To hold onto,
My past.
Memories of people loved,
Would stay with me so fresh.
Dreams I had of them quite often,
Would awaken me...
Out of breath.
And the need is gone,
For me...
To hold onto,
My past.
Yes that need is gone,
For me...
To hold onto,
My past.
And I,
Once had tried in vain...
To keep everything I knew,
Kept...
In my grasp.
I once had tried in vain,
To keep everything remaining...
In,
My grasp!
That need I had was pursued,
To keep...
Everything kept,
In,
My grasp!
That need I had was pursued,
To keep everything I knew kept...
In my grasp,
To last!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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True Love Survives
On big alley stands a lady waiting
For awhile
Acting out an untold story like a
Wounded child
But the mystery of the circumstance
Wont hide
She believes true love survives
True love survives
Waiting for her long lost lover
Returning from the war
Though I know she knew the truth
She also knew much more
And the answer that she gave to all of us
Whispered low saying
True love survives
True love survives
Is she dreaming does she know
A secret I cant see
Maybe theres a trace of truth
In all that she believes
For one day I took a look deep down inside
A voice cried saying true loves alive
True love survives
Only love will last forever true love will survive
Only love will last forever true love will survive
True is love is never-ending
Its giving all and not pretending
Its holding on although your heart
Feels dead
A quarter of a century of years
Have gone by
Still the dream of this peculiar
Ladys kept alive
So Im holding tight to one who I desired
A burning fire saying true love survives
True love survives
Only love will last forever
Only love will last forever
song performed by by Donna Summer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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My Rose...
gift you a rose, ,
gift you my rose....
but my rose to you, is not like any rose in this world...
a rose drunk from my tears...
a rose that i take care about it by my soul...
a rose gave it a water by my blood...
and perfumed it by my love....
my rose to you, is not like an roses...
its color not like any colors...
its not a red...
and its not a white...
even not a yellow...
its color pick up from the suns` yellow color..
and mix from the seas` blue color...
and from my bloods` drops..
and from my tears...
so.. its color was mixed with my sadness and my love...
my rose to you, is not like any roses...
its perfume is not like any perfume..
its a mix between a loves` nectar...
and many of kindness, and honesty love...
my rose to you, is not like any roses...
raised inside my heart...
and takes a warm light, from my eyes` light...
and its food, from the hope, that we always wish...
and from our future, which will gather us to each others one day...
so please accept and take my rose...
poem by Hazem Al Jaber
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Fête
Feu d'artifice en acier
Qu'il est charmant cet éclairage
Artifice d'artificier
Mêler quelque grâce au courage
Deux fusants
Rose éclatement
Comme deux seins que l'on dégrafe
Tendent leurs bouts insolemment
IL SUT AIMER
Quelle épitaphe
Un poète dans la forêt
Regarde avec indifférence
Son revolver au cran d'arrêt
Des roses mourir d'espérance
Il songe aux roses de Saadi
Et soudain sa tête se penche
Car une rose lui redit
La molle courbe d'une hanche
L'air est plein d'un terrible alcool
Filtré des étoiles mi-closes
Les obus caressent le mol
Parfum nocturne où tu reposes
Mortification des roses
poem by Guillaume Apollinaire
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Two Valentines
I.-TO MISTRESS BARBARA
There were three cavaliers, all handsome and true,
On Valentine's day came a maiden to woo,
And quoth to your mother: 'Good-morrow, my dear,
We came with some songs for your daughter to hear!'
Your mother replied: 'I'll be pleased to convey
To my daughter what things you may sing or may say!'
Then the first cavalier sung: 'My pretty red rose,
I'll love you and court you some day, I suppose!'
And the next cavalier sung, with make-believe tears:
'I've loved you! I've loved you these many long years!'
But the third cavalier (with the brown, bushy head
And the pretty blue jacket and necktie of red)
He drew himself up with a resolute air,
And he warbled: 'O maiden, surpassingly fair!
I've loved you long years, and I love you to-day,
And, if you will let me, I'll love you for aye!'
I (the third cavalier) sang this ditty to you,
In my necktie of red and my jacket of blue;
I'm sure you'll prefer the song that was mine
And smile your approval on your valentine.
II.-TO A BABY BOY
Who I am I shall not say,
But I send you this bouquet
With this query, baby mine:
'Will you be my valentine?'
See these roses blushing blue,
Very like your eyes of hue;
While these violets are the red
Of your cheeks. It can be said
Ne'er before was babe like you.
And I think it is quite true
No one e'er before to-day
Sent so wondrous a bouquet
As these posies aforesaid-
Roses blue and violets red!
Sweet, repay me sweets for sweets-
'Tis your lover who entreats!
Smile upon me, baby mine-
Be my little valentine!
poem by Eugene Field
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Beauty Is Vain
While roses are so red,
While lilies are so white,
Shall a woman exalt her face
Because it gives delight?
She's not so sweet as a rose,
A lily's straighter than she,
And if she were as red or white
She'd be but one of three.
Whether she flush in love's summer
Or in its winter grow pale,
Whether she flaunt her beauty
Or hide it away in a veil,
Be she red or white,
And stand she erect or bowed,
Time will win the race he runs with her
And hide her away in a shroud.
poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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Red Roses
Offer him roses, exactly the same roses
You picked in the middle of the day.
Light is travelling from them, forcing its way,
Like the roses in colour, in bloom, in love.
The colour is red but not light,
Just scented like the red rose.
We form levels of straightness
Of our comfort and condition.
The eyes feel sumptuous yet our bodies do not,
The roses must dazzle the individual.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Winter Roses
My garden roses long ago
Have perished from the leaf-strewn walks;
Their pale, fair sisters smile no more
Upon the sweet-brier stalks.
Gone with the flower-time of my life,
Spring's violets, summer's blooming pride,
And Nature's winter and my own
Stand, flowerless, side by side.
So might I yesterday have sung;
To-day, in bleak December's noon,
Come sweetest fragrance, shapes, and hues,
The rosy wealth of June!
Bless the young bands that culled the gift,
And bless the hearts that prompted it;
If undeserved it comes, at least
It seems not all unfit.
Of old my Quaker ancestors
Had gifts of forty stripes save one;
To-day as many roses crown
The gray head of their son.
And with them, to my fancy's eye,
The fresh-faced givers smiling come,
And nine and thirty happy girls
Make glad a lonely room.
They bring the atmosphere of youth;
The light and warmth of long ago
Are in my heart, and on my cheek
The airs of morning blow.
O buds of girlhood, yet unblown,
And fairer than the gift ye chose,
For you may years like leaves unfold
The heart of Sharon's rose
poem by John Greenleaf Whittier
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Solitude
Where the mocking lyre-bird calls
To its mate among the falls
Of the mountain streams that play,
Each adown its tortuous way;
When the dewy-fingered even
Veils the narrowed glimpse of heaven,
Where the morning re-illumes
Gullies full of ferny plumes,
And the roof of radiance weaves
Through high-hanging vault of leaves;
There ’mid giant turpentines,
Groups of climbing, clustering vines,
Rocks that stand like sentinels
Guarding native citadels,
Lowly flowering shrubs that grace
With their beauty all the place,
There I love to wander lonely
With my dog companion only;
There, indulge unworldly moods
In the mountain solitudes;
Far from all the gilded strife
Of our boasted “social life,”
Contemplating, spirit-free,
The majestic company,
Grandly marching through the ages—
Heroes, martyrs, bards, and sages—
They who bravely suffered long,
By their struggles waxing strong,
For the freedom of the mind,
For the rights of humankind.
Oh, for some awakening cause,
Where we face eternal laws,
Where we dare not turn aside,
Where the souls of men are tried—
Something of a nobler strife,
Which consumes the dross of life,
To unite to truer aim,
To exalt to loftier fame,
Leave behind the bats and balls,
Leave the racers in the stalls,
Leave the cards for ever shuffled,
Leave the yacht on seas unruffled,
Leave the haunts of pampered ease,
Leave your dull festivities—
Better far the savage glen,
Fitter school for earnest men.
poem by Sir Henry Parkes
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I Saw An Old Image In My Mind - Noah's Ark
I saw an old image of my mind Noah's Ark
Fading in the wilderness of the sky
I touched the land with my dreams
And nothing I knew said it was real-
I heard the sounds of songs of delight
And remembered the Creator in the days of my youth-
I listened to the poems long in the hearing time of my mind
And I waited as I wondered why and we are all destinies not struggling to be free-
I thought I lived
They were branches of other trees
An old man’s folly can never capture -
The first wonder of an infant eyeing through branches the lips of the sky -
We are wonders and dreamings and seemings and always being beyond what we are not-
And when our lives are done in this last world
God who made branches and trees and Noah’s ark and the leaves of the first land
Will remember to make us see again,
As if we were always Light and more Light and Still more Light
Heading out again through another lost wilderness.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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Two valentines
I.--TO MISTRESS BARBARA
There were three cavaliers, all handsome and true,
On Valentine's day came a maiden to woo,
And quoth to your mother: "Good-morrow, my dear,
We came with some songs for your daughter to hear!"
Your mother replied: "I'll be pleased to convey
To my daughter what things you may sing or may say!"
Then the first cavalier sung: "My pretty red rose,
I'll love you and court you some day, I suppose!"
And the next cavalier sung, with make-believe tears:
"I've loved you! I've loved you these many long years!"
But the third cavalier (with the brown, bushy head
And the pretty blue jacket and necktie of red)
He drew himself up with a resolute air,
And he warbled: "O maiden, surpassingly fair!
I've loved you long years, and I love you to-day,
And, if you will let me, I'll love you for aye!"
I (the third cavalier) sang this ditty to you,
In my necktie of red and my jacket of blue;
I'm sure you'll prefer the song that was mine
And smile your approval on your valentine.
II.--TO A BABY BOY
Who I am I shall not say,
But I send you this bouquet
With this query, baby mine:
"Will you be my valentine?"
See these roses blushing blue,
Very like your eyes of hue;
While these violets are the red
Of your cheeks. It can be said
Ne'er before was babe like you.
And I think it is quite true
No one e'er before to-day
Sent so wondrous a bouquet
As these posies aforesaid--
Roses blue and violets red!
Sweet, repay me sweets for sweets--
'Tis your lover who entreats!
Smile upon me, baby mine--
Be my little valentine!
poem by Eugene Field
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Life Blossoms into vitality
Petals blossoms into flowers,
Clouds blossom into rain,
Seeds blossoms into trees,
Minutes blossom into hours,
Bricks blossom into dwellings,
Anger blossoms into destruction,
Exuberance blossoms into newness,
Nervousness blossoms into exhaustion,
Teamwork blossoms into unity,
Perseverance blossoms into success,
Beauty blossoms into enchantment,
Intrigue blossoms into enigma,
Trends blossom into innovations,
Eggs blossom into fledglings,
Rose blossoms into scent,
Sun blossoms into optimism,
Stars blossom into radiation,
Soil blossoms into vegetation,
Art blossoms into exoticism,
Ice blossoms into waterfalls,
Fire blossoms into compassion,
Imagination blossoms into concepts,
Wine blossoms into sedation,
War blossoms into hatred,
Pearls blossom into resplendence,
Dreams blossom into floatation,
Fashion blossoms into style,
Roots blossom into stem,
Salt blossoms into tanginess,
Strength blossoms into fortitude,
Resilience blossoms into conviction,
Surrender blossoms into despair,
Truth blossoms into harmony,
Relationships blossom into empathy,
Violence blossoms into prejudice,
Discrimination blossoms into bloodshed,
Scalp blossoms into hair,
Love blossoms into passion,
Peace blossoms into solidarity,
Rainbow blossoms into vivacity,
Endeavor blossoms into sweetness,
Tunes blossom into songs,
Mind blossoms into ingenuity,
Wilderness blossoms into mysticism,
Flames blossom into ardor,
Corpses blossom into ghosts,
Retreat blossoms into sadness,
Bondage blossoms into rebel,
Faith blossoms into worship,
Infidelity blossoms into nemesis,
Idiosyncrasy blossoms into nothingness,
Spiders blossom into webs,
Benevolence blossoms into humanity,
Independence blossoms into character,
Renunciation blossoms into divine,
Introspection blossoms into discovering,
Emotions blossom into yearning,
Death blossoms into extinction,
And life blossoms into vitality…..
poem by Nikhil Parekh
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The Zonnebeke Road
Morning, if this late withered light can claim
Some kindred with that merry flame
Which the young day was wont to fling through space!
Agony stares from each grey face.
And yet the day is come; stand down! stand down!
Your hands unclasp from rifles while you can;
The frost has pierced them to the bended bone?
Why see old Stevens there, that iron man,
Melting the ice to shave his grotesque chin!
Go ask him,, shall we win?
I never likes this bay, some foolish fear
Caught me the first time that I came here;
That dugout fallen in awakes, perhaps
Some formless haunting of some corpse's chaps.
True, and wherever we have held the line,
There were such corners, seeming-saturnine
For no good cause.
Now where the Haymarket starts,
There is no place for soldiers with weak hearts;
The minenwerfers have it to the inch.
Look, how the snow-dust whisks along the road
Piteous and silly; the stones themselves must flinch
In this east wind; the low sky like a load
Hangs over, a dead-weight. But what a pain
Must gnaw where its clay cheek
Crushes the shell-chopped trees that fang the plain –
The ice-bound throat gulps out a gargoyle shriek.
That wretched wire before the village line
Rattles like rusty brambles on dead bine,
And there the daylight oozes into dun;
Black pillars, those are trees where roadways run
Even Ypres now would warm our souls; fond fool,
Our tour's but one night old, seven more to cool!
O screaming dumbness, o dull clashing death,
Shreds of dead grass and willows, homes and men,
Watch as you will, men clench their chattering teeth
And freeze you back with that one hope, disdain.
poem by Edmund Blunden
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A black rose
a black rose sees and tells it all.
how long are you gonna live
are you gonna find true love
where is life taking you
when are you gonna die
but most importantly,
a black rose sees
through your
relationship.
pick up a black rose just one
time and you'll be able to tell and
even visual whats going on in
your relationship.
black roses are very deep and meaningful.
black roses tell you like it is and not like a red rose
who only wants to show you passion and consideration.
listen to a black rose and it will make you
wanna pull out your hair because it tells you
the whole truthful story
but listen to a red rose and it will make you
happy by telling you only the good things
and keeping all of the secrets and lies away.
-La'Veranique
*aka*
dat girl nickey
poem by Nickey Mason
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Forever For You
Does anyone know
What love can cost
To take you so high
Then leave you lost
Is it a mystery
That runs too deep
For such a simple heart
Can anyone stop
The hands of time
And put back the loving
In your eyes
Though it's his name I hear
When you are sleeping
I'll pretend it's mine
{Chorus}
When they ask me how long
I'm gonna love you
If the road to my heart
Will always stay true
I'll say forever (Yeah)
I'll say forever for you
When they ask will I stand
Right there beside you
And they don't see you and me
The way that I do
I'll say forever
I'll say forever for you
A rose is rose
By any name
But a thorn will still cut
You just the same
I'm losing your love I know
So sad the feeling
I can tell
Somebodys' stealing
Stealin' away your heart
{Chorus}
When they ask me how long
I'm gonna love you
If the road to my heart
Will always stay true
I'll say forever
I'll say forever for you
When they ask will I stand
Right there beside you
And they don't see you and me
The way that I do
I'll say forever
I'll say forever for you
{Bridge}
I don't know if I should tell you
How you live in my heart
There's no room for another
If you leave me now
My heart would not recover
{Chorus}
(Forever for you)
When they ask me how long
I'm gonna love you (Oh I'm gonna love you)
If the road to my heart (Heart..)
Will always stay true
I'll say forever (Say forever)
I'll say forever for you (I'll say..)
When they ask will I stand (And I'll say forever..)
Right there beside you (Oh yeah)
And they don't see you and me (They don't see you)
The way that I do (The way that I do.)
I'll say forever (I'll say forever)
I'll say forever for you (I'll be right there. Ohh, ohh always and forever.)
End....
song performed by by Hall & Oates
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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