Somehow, in all of the recent rain and wind and clouds, I overlooked the fact that parts of the yard are still blooming.
All of the pollinators are gone, so it feels as if the flowers want only to be admired.
roses
Fourth of July Rose
We purchased this rose almost a decade ago. In my memory of that day, the rose’s label reads “Fireworks”.
Last year, during an early attempt at blogging, I tried to find an online reference for fireworks roses. None existed. Turns out, our fireworks rose is a climbing Fourth of July rose.
What trick of memory switched the labels in my mind? And what of all my other memories? Are they equally flawed?
The House of Things You’ve Known
You must enter the dream
Like a rose petal unfolding
At midnight
Making no sound
And appearing not to move
The journey that is not a journey
Begins and ends on a rose petal
Unfolding
The rose has grown wild
Against a broken trellis
And an abandoned house
That sags with absence
This dream place would be barren
But for the rose
Petal unfolding
Grown wild against silence
Which you cannot break
Even if you could be heard
And what you will not say
Is all that remains of this house
The house of things you’ve known
The rose petal
Unfolding at midnight
Is why you have come
Not the broken window
Which allows time to seep
In and out of absence
Curling over and through
And past
You must exit the dream
You have seen enough
Been enough alone
Unable to start or end
The journey that is not a journey
While you were dreaming
The rose petal unfolded
Though neither of you moved
Irises and More
Today’s survey of the yard found an abundance of irises, a few sleepy roses, and a single amaryllis.
There’s also a new species of dragonfly–one made of spoons. (Thank you, Sharon!)
And, ruling over it all, a grumpy robin. I’ve been attacked by nesting blue jays more than once, but today’s robin attack was a first. The irony is that I never would have found her nest, had the robin ignored me. Instead, she chirped and complained and tried to pull my hair as I knelt in the irises, which made me very curious…
Publication note: Poetry Breakfast posted my poem “Rinse and Repeat” today. Many thanks to editor Isabel Sylvan!
April 3, 2012
It’s a daisy and maple kind of day.
With a few thorns, of course. No day is complete without thorns.
Rae Spencer 