Roses of Agony

I am being told to let go
By almost everyone I know
Release, let it out, let it be
Plunge into passivity
 
While I cling to bitter beauty
My bruises bloom a thorny tree
Guarding roses of agony

This pain is mine, it belongs to me
My torment is my blood, it breathes
with every breath, it beats with my heartbeats
Within my tears, it weeps
It shrieks, uncoiled, beneath my skin
Where the sin of suffering begins

It is my fertile fury, my hellish choir
My savage soul, my cathartic fire

It is large and lush and livid
Conquering and vivid

It is too precious, too valuable, to trade away or wallow
in trinkets, or flimsy platitudes, or empty cliches, or hollow
promises of unfulfilling fortresses to follow

Their learned words I dare spurn
For to recover, I must burn

So I will keep it, for I know its worth, 
even if their unsolicited, unwarranted, intrusive,
Questioning and questionable, inconclusive
Unadvised advisors do not grant it girth

It is here I find
What I want most
Where rage of kindness blinds
My grieving ghosts.

06/06/20

Entered in 'N/A Rerun 7'
1st Place

Copyright © | Year Posted 2020



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Date: 6/28/2020 1:03:00 PM
Hello Michelle, a lot of heartache here. I feel the pain as I read through the poem. Enjoy your day my friend.
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Date: 6/17/2020 1:50:00 AM
Sad yet comforting at the same time Michelle. I really find this an honest version of our emotions in life. Congratulations on your win :)
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Date: 6/16/2020 10:30:00 AM
Congratulations on your win. WOW!!! What a write. Beautiful roses can turn into agony. Enjoy your win and day..........
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Date: 6/16/2020 2:29:00 AM
This a very fine evocative piece! Congratulations on your top win!
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Date: 6/15/2020 10:02:00 AM
Michelle, so glad to see this receive a #1 placement. It is a poem to be very proud of. I think the revisions you have made have served it well. Congratulations, my friend ~ John
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Michelle Faulkner
Date: 6/18/2020 6:07:00 PM
Yes, I tweaked one or two words - can't seem to let this one go, I am always wanting to change just - one - more - thing - I guess I am obsessed? But thank you so much for your comment!
Date: 6/15/2020 9:33:00 AM
Now this one is great timing, you were smart to enter this one Michelle, it's so hard to believe it got an N/A in any contest, well here's to validation, first place!
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Michelle Faulkner
Date: 6/18/2020 6:05:00 PM
And thank you for the placement as well :)
Date: 6/14/2020 10:03:00 PM
Thanks for posting this poem Michelle, I don't know where to begin...this is...one of the best writes I've ever read. Sadly I relate and I congratulate you for speaking these words, now I can save it and re-read it over and over...speechless...wow!!
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Michelle Faulkner
Date: 6/18/2020 6:04:00 PM
I am humbled by your generous comment, thank you so much, John!
Date: 6/8/2020 6:04:00 PM
Wow, a good solid read. Well done.
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Date: 6/7/2020 12:03:00 AM
Hello Michelle … nicely presented indeed and a pleasure to read - thank you Michelle - Lindsay
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Date: 6/6/2020 3:41:00 PM
A very emotional write Michelle, for to recover I must burn, how true that is. Tom
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Date: 6/6/2020 2:04:00 PM
Your muse apparently thrives on Quarantine! Aloha! Rico
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Date: 6/6/2020 1:51:00 PM
Pure poetry, Michelle. I can read this over and over and still I want to experience it one more time. So dense with emotion, and amazing phrases. "It is my fertile fury, my hellish choir My savage soul, my cathartic fire". One of your best, imho. And thanks for the nod, I was honored to help, not that it needed much from me. Glad to see you repost.
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Michelle Faulkner
Date: 6/7/2020 6:01:00 PM
Your input was so valuable - sometimes I think fresh eyes on a piece can help bring it into focus, and your comments are so insightful and encouraging!
Date: 6/6/2020 1:42:00 PM
wow Michelle the agony of grief so powerfully described - I have never experienced such emotions, thanks for sharing Michelle, adding this to my faves -) hugs Jan xx
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Michelle Faulkner
Date: 6/7/2020 5:59:00 PM
This one kept coming back to me even two years after I originally posted it, so I decided to update it, so flattered you made it a fave!
Date: 6/6/2020 11:09:00 AM
WOW. Hats off to you, I can't find the right words, none of them are enough. Well, other than "a fave". xomo! <3
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Michelle Faulkner
Date: 6/6/2020 11:28:00 AM
Always a pleasure to hear from you, Mo - hope you are taking care of yourself :)
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