This Rose has no More Thorns

Photo by Sanika V on Unsplash

‘A nightingale falls in love with the rose.
The whole love affair begins with just
one look from God.’ Yunus Emre

Oh! Sufferer of the love dream
Do you not know that Venus &
Neptune conspired to seduce
& render your search obsolete?
For years, I chased both goddess
& dream until the clouds cleared
& pain alone was my great friend
as I languished in some culvert
perilously close to death.
Mercy found me when
I was still a continent
green & undiscovered -
a stranger to myself — a simple child
innocent & longing.
Pity came just in time & said
‘It’s all right — your seeking was only love
confused by mind’ — a fantasy
when I needed boots on the ground.
I am old now but clear-eyed.
Love’s dream is reduced to whispers.

Copyright Simon Heathcote