Rosa gymnocarpa

Rosa gymnocarpa

The wild wood-rose
         dwarf-rose
bald-hip
         call it
what you will;
         you’ll find it
in the heart
         of shady
damp forests
         five petals
to its flat
         fragrant
open-faced
         flowers
ranging
         in shades of pink
that may deepen
         into a lush lavender;
its fruit’s
         the red rosehip
its leaves are serrated
         and its slender stems
bristle with
         long straight spines

How can words convey
         the full glory of a cluster
of these delicate beauties ?
         They simply can’t !

John Lyons