“Setting Fire to the Rose Garden” was my sixteenth poem for the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project last August. Many thanks to Lily June, who sponsored and provided the title.
Setting Fire to the Rose Garden
Each flower is a gift, a testament to
another morning’s arrival.
I watch you tend the firestar, its
mango-colored petals flirting with
the fire ’n’ ice’s elegant
red, accepting the pink indictment
of the flaming peace, and the
scarlet fireglow’s blush. You are like
a new sunlight crossing the day,
yet when I wave, a cloud passes over
you. Flames differ in this regard,
knowing they exist only as the product
of heat, oxidation and combustible
material, yet sharing their brief lives
with all who care to notice. I inhale
your dark thoughts, holding them
within, but later assemble my own
bouquet — wood chips and diesel
fuel, ground spinners, snakes,
strobes, rockets, candles, shells,
repeaters and a spark timer — and
plant it fondly in the garden. Oh,
how they’ll blossom before dawn’s
first touch. How they will shine.
great poem
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Thank you very much.
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welcome
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Robert. I really enjoy your writing, brother. Do you ever write short story, or dabble in any other way with prose beyond poetry?
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Thanks, Christopher. Poetry is my primary focus, but I stray into prose from time to time – vignettes or essays on this or that. I’ve not attempted fiction in many years.
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I love this !
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Thank you, Susan.
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A beautiful work of art. Love the imagery you sketch . Thank you also for your support. Best. Chevvy
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Glad you liked it, Chevvy. Thanks very much.
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My pleasure Robert:-)
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I have read and reread this beautiful line:
“I watch you tend the firestar, its
mango-colored petals flirting with
the fire ’n’ ice’s elegant
red, accepting the pink indictment
of the flaming peace…”
A pink indictment will be my poetic ear worm today!
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You have made my day, Susanne. Thank you!
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https://uniqueharmoney.wordpress.com/2016/04/30/i-remeber-this-feeling/
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Thanks, M.
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Thank you. For liking it
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reminds me of the Love of God, starts in His kids a fire that cannot be put out. A fire shut up in our bones but cannot help to escape. This was lovely to read thanks…
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Thank you. A different perspective, but interesting.
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Beautiful. In our home in Seattle, we had a rose garden, which we both loved, watching as the buds appeared then unfolded into bloom. Here in our condominium in Sapporo, we have no roses, but some of the gardens below and elsewhere in our neighborhood do, and are a joy to visit.
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We had roses for a few years, but shade encroached and life interfered. Now I’m content to visit them. They are indeed a joy.
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Those first two stanzas are amazing. They set quite a scene for the poem 🙂
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Thanks, Melinda. I enjoyed finding and using the different rose names, and incorporating them into the narrative.
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You’re welcome 🙂 you did an excellent job of it 🙂
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This rings so true with the unsaid corridors of relationships, or how we might see them. I especially like the last 2 lines.
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Thank you. This one lies in one of the creepier corridors. 🙂
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Lovely imagery. We planted our rose garden last year. As the plants develop, I will think of your poem
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Thank you, Derrick. I trust that your roses will have a better fate.
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🙂
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a sinister beauty, Robert.
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Thanks, Judy. It’s not the creepiest poem I’ve written, but it’s right up there.
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I am often surprised by what I write.. Having no idea where I’m going until I am there. I have a sense that this was true with this poem as well…It didn’t feel contrived.
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Oh, yes. The poem wrote itself. Or nearly.
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Lovely lines
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Thanks very much.
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Love the imagery, love the ‘for those who stop and notice’ line.
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Thanks very much. It’s easy to NOT notice our surroundings, so occasionally I remind myself to take a gander.
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Well, there’s certainly a lot that can happen in a garden . . . beautiful blossoming, emotional tussles, a little revenge, some beautiful destruction . . . has the makings of a one episode soap opera. Thanks Lily June (is that a perfect name for a flower lover?) for the title and to you Robert for the great read.
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The word “garden” carries a lot of weight all on its own. This was a fun one to write.
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It sounds like an exciting place indeed!
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It certainly can be!
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I feel, when I read your poetry, that I am lifted, illuminated, educated, in all the best possible ways. Bliss!
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You are always so kind, Carrie. Thank you.
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Stunning, breath-taking words and imagery. Truly inspirational…💐 😊
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Thanks, Krys. I hope you won’t be inspired to burn roses. 🙂
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…no, only the prunings and the diseased with black spot! 🙂
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I never thought a scientific sounding word like “oxidation” could work so well in a poem until I read it here.
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It seemed to match the narrator’s personality. Glad it worked for you!
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Great poem. Jealous? Me? You bet!
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Ha! Thanks, Michael.
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Pingback: Setting Fire to the Rose Garden – clearancerose
Incredible. So moving. Interesting.
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Thanks very much. It was fun to write.
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