Roses & Thorns
March 2023: Monthly Writing Theme
Thank you Mustapha El Hajj for suggesting me to participate in Jason Edmunds’s writing prompt March 2023: Monthly Theme — Roses & Thorns! This was a great opportunity for me to explore what “roses” and “thorns” mean to me, in love and in life.
Perhaps a characteristic of my writing style, I always seek to understand the deeper meanings underlying certain events/patterns/behaviours — including elements that are considered “dark” or “sad truth”.
In this piece, the rose was likened to that of a person, both caught in the strings of superficial love. It did not turn out as positively themed as when I first intended to, but somehow the message came to me, and so I wrote (and for some reason, I find myself rapping along the words :D)
And here goes!
Amber eyes blinked open
Awaken
To the nudges of cold
In soft echoes of rain
Comforting and away
She took her time
Feeling the returning of her soul
The warmth beneath her back
On the weave rounded sunbed
Soft, thin cotton blanket
Covered her cold, tired limbs
With her tousled long red hair
Around the nape of her neck
As she gazed up
Heavy tears of dusk
How it poured and splattered
Against transparent glass barrier
As the last daylight
Cast ripples of shadows
Across the sheltered rose garden
Of ivory, red, white, and yellow
Not yet, she thought silently as she rose
Strolling along the lush green vibrant
Her fingers brushed the rich velvety petals
Blossoming buds of youth
Sharp thorns threatening to prick
She found, in the sea of red roses
A shared, twisted kind of solace
She mumbled low
Mindful of unseen audience
“They called you Rose
The symbol of love and beauty
For you are always desired
By the ones you know
And the ones who know you
Yet somehow a blessing turns into a curse
The only beauty they ever saw
Was the crown of red petals which you wore
But never the thorns that kept you alive
Kept you whole
They spoke words of admiration
Yet they separate you from your roots
And cut away edges of you
Even the ones that make you, you
Placing all their hopes on you
Like a miracle of sorts
To make their declaration known
To make their declaration whole
They have forgotten
For roses were never the answer
But rather it was the acts of love
That kept two hearts beating for one another
Illusion of so-called beauty as they showed you off
Where you stood vulnerable, defenseless before a crowd in a room
Days numbered as your youth and life withered away
Memories of your flourishing past now seem so far away”
In the end
Was it love, or was it lust
She wondered.
I am excited and look forward to reading amazing creative pieces from fellow lovely poets/writers as well Ari Jensine, Andra Writes, CDTPPW, Benighted, Nadja Sturm, Morgan Lahm, Zhaoying Song, Indah Maulida, Hanun Asyifa
May our creativity flow and let us show the roses and thorns that we know!
