In August, we offered a Visual Art Prompt Challenge, (Rose Visual), on the ILA Magazine Facebook Group, no caption or title with 'Best Entry' to be selected and published, on ILA Blog. It was to be one best entry, however, after receiving 43 entries, one simply could not just be picked. Although all forty-three entries were superbly written, 13 "Fresh from the Garden" poems are featured here.
Green Roses Help me remember any truths beyond the lies. Do you know who you are? And, in return, say what you know of me. I stand before you with hands extended. You do this also, when it suits what you'll render. Your piano man fingers, your furrowed face, you weave my pain into holy beads. Help me remember any previously painted portraits before the newly applied paint coat. Is peace better than being right? I learned omens and portents from you, so I see where this new ripple will carry us, and I ask you: Would you still grow for me a most beautiful garden if there were no more roses? © Linda Imbler 09/2021
ROSE PETAL SPEECH I sought the existence of one woman in a pure rose But I never got a direct answer from her. I guess there is always suffering for my young age When I'm not a happy man, I don't have to live at all. I am disqualified from every life of yours. Body language tells me you are thirsty and hungry Persistence of a rose that remembers the scent on the body. That night, when I asked to dedicate myself to you I was just greeted by a story of a slightly different color. The rose is red, a symbol of love and blood. I am not a warrior, but because of you I would cross the world. And he threw himself under the bridge to be mine forever made of gold Love, we may have been born in the wrong time Where realism turns us into children's games. The center of the world is all the way to the ordinary falcon of life. I hit my head against the wall to which I gave my time. I never have to be your peony or rose When the soul is polluted, one should not give peace to anyone. You need to tread, and I will teach myself my life lessons Because I always learn from love that I am the most difficult for myself!
© Amb Maid Corbic 09/2021
FRAGILE ROSE Each petal unfolds Itself into a beautiful Story of love! The freshness of That being defines An intense pain of A heart, lost in the Game of beautiful Miseries, lost for life! Even plucking a petal May cost it a wound With an endless bleeding! © Sonal Rao 09/2021
The Flower of My Youth Rose, the flower of my youth, Reminds me of the trying times; When I grappled with verses, To venerate its flawlessness A love unmatched in urgency, As an eagle in search of prey; Rising from the depth of a core, Like the wind driving the vapors, Even beauty, music and poetry Can't vie with the Rose and me. There's an eternal oath of love, Originating from heights above With an incomparable sweetness, A source of endless happiness, A lure to hovering butterflies, Love is a Rose that never dies. © Elmer Romulo Valdez 09/2021 Philippines
ROSE
As they always say: "Every rose has its thorn, Like every night has its dawn..." Just like how everything is imperfect I needn't dwell on your thorns For they serve a valid purpose. Your sole existence Is a gift for us ladies. You are a graceful balance Between fragility and firmness The one...my dreams sought While I hibernated. Yours is a quintessential beauty Timeless, elegant, alluring, A candied visual pop, A picturesque darling of nature, Your petals, flimsy but edible Your fragrance, a splash of pheromone With you in my hand, I shan't be forever blue. You are that silent language Of romantics hiding in cliches. You are an emblem of love and romance, The passion of an ardent lover. I Thank God for having eyes to see Your radiance. I need not analyze the semantics of your colors To understand the depth of your impact T'is enough that you've given me a wonderful reason to smile. © Sugar Zedna 09/2021
Summer Noon at Old Delhi A summer noon at old Delhi we once sought refuge from our dreams and delusions and the heat of many moments. The story teller at Jama Masjid sang songs of eternal Mughal love. Eons behind curtain of rose petals caught in its fragrance its age and your sudden smile. We hid in your ruby red scarf lips locked in a cooler fading sun. © Amitabh Mitra 09/2021
Universal Sign Your petals are auspicious Thrown from helicopter Or youthful damsels Into a crowd, an icon of Humanity, Or a religious leader. Strewn upon a bed, Romanticism is granted To blessed couples, Presented in a bouquet, To high dignitaries for their presence. Token of love for new Lovelorn lovers Of their idyllic love life, Can any flower be more Blessed by God.
© Apu Mondal 09/2021
LOVELY ROSE (Tanka) Lovely rose agleam Blood of friendship or pure love One gets the spotlight While the other takes the pain An evergreen nature's tale.
© Amrita Mallik
VELVET ROSE Tears fall on ancient velvet rose petals. You carefully brought back to life nurtured with special feed. You never loved me as much as that rose. © Bernadette O'Reilly 09/2021
SHYNESS
Hidden inside the blood-red petals is the tale of a rose ensconced in shyness, its scent stifled coyly but slowly crept to reveal in the right moment of unrivaled ecstasy its heady perfume for all to be transported in a trance. This rose, this bloody red rose is shyness at its best from a tiny bud it bloomed amidst its sentinel of thorns, aching to be free just like poetry, a rose is full of pleasant surprises. Each petal, a word for prose, each leaf, green with emotions, each thorn, a defense for faults. Oh rose, bloody red rose, bloom for us all, shed off vestiges of shyness and regale us with your unsurpassed beauty of poetry and prose, of this shy rose. © Rosemarie Miranda 09/2021
LAYERS
I reach for you in the safety of your petals velvet soft upon my cheeks I gently reach inside and peel back the layers tenderly to reveal the essence of you. I caress and nourish
and allow room for you to come and go. I water and encourage and carefully lean you towards the sunlight to grow and expand to your full potential. This is how I love.
© Nancy Matchton Owens 09/2021
Your Color Gives the Hue Your color gives the hue to the bashful bride, makes it more vivid each time she stealthily catches a glimpse of her ardent beau. You lend redness to the blood of all the creatures God created, never diluting or making it darker for some. The same shade for all that gushes in our veins, to make us live.
O'! Rose, what another name be thine, when in yourself, you carry all that love could hold. © Indu Kilam 09/2021
Ruddy Love You usher the heart dulcet melodies In your satin labyrinth, we unfurl peace Your thorns protect you from the ravenous eyes Your undying scarlet hue, a harbinger of blissful vibes Your invigorating fragrance entices every soul Your elegant presence often solder the cracks to a whole Your indiscernible composure replenishes the impoverished Your melodious sways tug at the heartstrings Born in myriad tints your peppiness is unrivaled But often your crumpled hems sing the wilted dreams that lay stifled Your delicate frame on a slender stalk dotted with prickly offerings Is God's message to mankind, not to grumble about miseries instead count the blessings! © Sonali Ray 09/2021
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