IMPERFECT ROSE*
the imperfect rose,
once vivacious and colorful under the summer sun,
its petals are now wilted, its colors faded and gone.
its time has passed
its dance is done.
the imperfect rose cries many petals,
last vestiges of her beauty wait for the wind to carry them to their rest.
each petal papery and thin
lies on the lush green grass, its veins blushing
glowing pink in the setting sun and to silence it doth humbly acquiesce.
even in decay, the imperfect rose holds a certain grace,
a reminder of glory days now past.
rose petals may be temporary
but are eternal in memories of love and sharing
enough to weather the storm, to outlast.
the imperfect rose
has thorns that make one bleed.
forgive the rose of its imperfections with compassion
for of her thorns the imperfect rose doth gladly concede~
we are all petals of imperfection, might you accede?
*Note:I originally posted this poem at Poetry Soup in June 2025 then deleted it. It’s my original creation and was not plagiarized (poetrysoup.com/poem/imperfect_rose_1738035)
Categories:
papery, 12th grade, rose,
Form: Free verse
Oh! How I despise dawn’s blushing optimism
and dried hydrangea blooms sepia skinned and papery thin.
Humdrum hands beat doldrums drum.
Why won’t the summer solstice light this darkness?
A gnawing hollow where my heart should be.
Where cinder clouds float in negative space
memories collect like nesting sparrows beneath eaves.
I stray, a waif lost with my armful of loss.
Your death did steal my breath and heartbeat like a thief
while October’s wind trembled aspens like harp strings.
(Ten Poem Titles)
The Corruption Of My Lust For Life
Autumn Side Of September
Mundane Matters Of Mortals
Theft Of My Will To Survive
In Woes And Throes Of Sorrow
A Vanilla Dove
Escape Of The Bluesman’s Song
The Sham Of My Humanity
Death Is The Bane Of My Existence
The Shedding Trees Of Autumn
Categories:
papery, grief, introspection, loneliness, lost
Form: Free verse
On spewing wave, our departing ride
Crazed currents crack, an azure slide
Freedom mingles in sea foam seethe
Cobra throat coast gulps river relieve
Estuary entry rests, rushing ruthless
Canoe oar dip downtempo soothe us
Convulsing closing, seen from stern
To mayhem mouth we shan’t return
Silver silt filters salt, lake lap littoral
Ranges ahead etch graduating blues
Drift beside reeds, bird pews hymnal
Harp strum seraphim strike chords
Nacreous nematodes writhe towards
Tiny sun centre lace tutus feverfew
Pirouette pirogue wet on dawn dew
Papery apron snapdragon bonnets
Bloom ten a stem syllable sonnets
Cut log capsule covets its heritage
Forested foothills fix ship wreckage
Fir hands welcome hung hammock
Cosy ocean recoil, mountains titanic
Sixth of November
- upstream -
Categories:
papery, adventure, beautiful, environment, flower,
Form: Couplet
Bleak winter Melbourne morning,
a cold wind coming in
from across the Bay
and blowing down the street,
past the Esplanade Cafe
with the smell of coffee
and warm air spilling out
from an open door.
I stop, look at the cake
and pastry display through
the window, the basket
of freshly baked croissants,
Danish pastries topped with
strawberries and apricots
and glazed with syrup.
A cloud of steam
from the espresso machine
adds a touch of the surreal.
Anticipation moistens my mouth
on the sight of French vanilla
slices plump with custard
and cream, muffins erupting
from their papery patties,
Portuguese tarts, thick slices
of carrot cake topped
with icing. I savor each
with an imaginative bite
and decide my treat…
then groan. I've left my wallet
at home.
( for Deb M )
Categories:
papery, humor, morning,
Form: Free verse
sun …
glints off sweaty trickles as
they plop … plop …
little lad’s littler fingers tickling a
tide pool’s papery face
things of mysterious intention, darting
there to here to there …
wide eyes wider in amazement
tiny thrums quick’ning
dividing breaths
like swells divide the time
and tides …
a splash and a grasp, tightening
some small watery beast
cold-red cheeks blooming wide to
parody the dazzled bay
grins and giggles to mock the black-backs
for this shrimpy monster, squirming
is the prize of a wee fist
gamboling its way to
proffer some mad-mommy shrieks -
slimy and squiggly and
oh, so wondrous!
hunter, home from the hill
Ahab and his white sea demon
perfectly prideful,
invested surety of a silly smile
warmed by the sooty
afternoon …
sun.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, June 9, 2024
Categories:
papery, analogy, child, childhood,
Form: Free verse
The withering is so very beautiful.
Eyes build translucent shells for themselves.
there is a falling inward,
mouths move beneath appearance,
Expressions of mortality
falter,
as the mind begins to see
its own shallow reflections,
an understanding,
that all last breaths are a first kiss.
Atrophy inwardly shapes its own chrysalis.
Old man flowering
in a thin soup of himself,
a seasoned musk shaping iconic effigies,
of youth and age.
He rules the kingdom,
of the winter moon
Crone, touches her wilting lips,
the movement seduces angels.
A papery rose unfolds one more time,
Decline revives her, with yet more
weary wonders.
The withering is so very beautiful.
Light on evening water,
a lake gleams,
too deep to be crossed,
by any ferryman,
Night no longer lures
beauty to turn away from its journey.
Life walks itself,
into a sublime uncertainty.
A beauty arises,
shorn of both fire or hope,
mercy flares upon a crumbling edge.
Revelations burn-on.
At the center of an undefeated love,
a path winds ever inward.
Categories:
papery, poetry,
Form: Free verse
on blue-frozen snow
small mouse papery rustling ~
path sparkles with stars
Categories:
papery, winter,
Form: Haiku
Papery feathers strain to take wing.
Frills ruffle, mythic masks gnash at the air
beautifully belligerent.
Plucked, they dally daily
between the surfaces of legend,
and the finery of a silk-stockinged
sentience.
Diaphanous stems are necks-laced
below an open-mouth in full quaff
pastel beaks
revealing a mute floral clamor.
Flame refined dragon-hearted blooms
they consume the oxygen of our
domestic awe. Pepper us with a
salty serpent presence.
Lightweight and splashily bearded
we see them gambol
on the tippy-toe of a metaphor.
When within a circle of sunlight
we place them,
they may fire-dance
with a scolding snippiness
goading all and sundry
with a dragons gimlet gaze.
Categories:
papery, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Strewn across a wide plain,
sheep bones dazzle
in the bright sun.
On the horizon,
phantoms coalesce then melt
away into watery lies.
The only sound
is the dry, papery whispers
of saltbush rasped
by a hot wind.
The stone walls of a derelict
farmhouse make a last stand
against the encroaching desert.
A big sky has claimed its roof.
Out of the shadows
of a paralysed windmill,
a shiny black beetle
leaves little footprints
as it wanders across the face
of this abandoned world.
Categories:
papery, earth, loss,
Form: Free verse
A soft excited glowing sunburst center shows her love to flying things
a cheerful strawflower shows love to grasshoppers whose legs zing
Papery bracts pose as petals, fooling beetles falling from forest trees
Her patchwork quilt attracts butterflies, humans, and native bees
Butterflies flock to the quilt of the meadow, enjoying strawflower reveal.
Reveling in the happiness of the day and the joy that they now feel
Categories:
papery, flower,
Form: Rhyme
The birch tree bends
over the abandoned playground
its papery thin bark peeling
exposing the stark white wood beneath
A few brown withered leaves
that stubbornly refuse to fall
continue clinging to its branches
fluttering in the frigid winter wind
like fringe from the tattered shroud
of a lonesome ghost
searching for fellow lost souls
looming over the empty swings
and the slide buried beneath
a blanket of snow
while the children who
romp and sing songs in its shade
gaze wistfully out of the window
waiting patiently for spring
as they sip from mugs of hot cocoa
Categories:
papery, childhood, children, snow, spring,
Form: Free verse
On an empty page, my quill
Does not sit to quench
Its thirst to lessen this quandary
To let, nay make, quintessential
Inroads, biding thy quiver
Of lexiconical bolts; queuing
And firing forthwith rousingly formed quips
Onto this pulpy papery quilt
Begat by thy mind & soul; quoth
I, the Poeter, set to quicken
One’s pace upon the barren quagmires
Of this regimented delineation of the exalted quatrain
Without the rigmarole to produce
Each line with, a notion of being abstruse
Nor, being meant to infer being obtuse
Or, to take a step back and be a communicatory recluse
A piece de resistance for the ruminating
Ilk, step forward with grandeur; minds & souls; scintillating.
Categories:
papery, inspiration, metaphor, poetry, writing,
Form: Verse
What do theologians call a life without events?
The lights of my prison-like room dawn before sun's first blush.
I open sand-papery eyes as my AI announces the morning.
I begin the puppetry of morning routines:
I study my pale inmate face as I polish the porcelain.
I look less of a drowsy-angel than a zombie as I splash cold water
on the face with an almost determined lack of expression.
I’m absorbed in an ocean of predawn cold
as I 5-mile-walk away my sleepiness - this small freedom
- keeps me fit and acceptably sane.
Later, bathed in hot indifference,
and clothed in exhausting obligations,
I dine, at my reserved table, with my gang of irritations.
Soon I’m ready for another taxing day
of waiting for the disease to run its course.
Categories:
papery, 11th grade, morning, teen,
Form: Free verse
Cruising southwards to LA from Sac
a midnight filled with songs ‘n Luna,
light-etching hills in a black infernal…
It was a leviathan’s back on which I
felt the tires unrolling a chilled grief ~
Owlish-full, a hypnotic moon, ‘n Dido
reminiscing tunefully about surrender
negating white flags and loves forlorn...
Inside the eye, a wispy face smiled hi
and gently slid open a papery fusuma...
Dazed, I held her gaze, so undead
Round face framed in softest ether
exhaling cool peppermint to inhale ~
Amaranth rains of fleeting gardenia,
mildly-scented dawn's astral gloam ***
(11/2/2020)
Categories:
papery, allusion,
Form: Free verse
Bookstore, Musty Galore
Allen's Old Gold Discover,
SecondStory Pages of Glory,
Kelmscott Shelves Soar & Hover,
1st Editions Scarce Recovery,
Fore Edge Paintings Lover,
However It's Cheapo Papery,
Provides a Comfy Nest Plover,
Finding Fresh Author Flesh Scary!
Going Broke Buying A Great Cover,
I'm Not Waiting 'til Old & Hairy,
Grazing Tomes is Similar to Clover,
Diet As Extant Goodreads is Nary!
Categories:
papery, books, desire, fun, hair,
Form: Rhyme
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