Parallelogram

Hushed beauty of the red rose
and yet she gasps in awe

breathes in the scent
and sighs deeply

soft petals that will be revealed
to unborn generations

that will be fed into fresh narratives
of love and tenderness

A rose carried from place to place
a gesture of the hand and of the heart

Love being that warm condensation
that repairs the shattered hours

that soothes the haunted imagination
A bloom unblemished amid the settling dust

At first light a silhouette a shade
in the receding shadows of the night

the blush of passion faded on their flesh
content they lie entwined at last at rest

John Lyons