* * * * * ROSES (for Elysabeth Faslund) * * * * *
The perfume of roses, of jasmine
the smell of sweet incense
and another - indefinable -
of blessing.
When you smell these
know that Love is very near
Sweetly scented is the air
around the places you walk
ruins smell not of decay
but of living fragrances.
So flowers flourish in such places
obeying some far memory
that sweet scents should surround them.
We anoint ourselves -
attar of roses, queen of the night
- seeking to lock into that sancity
(hoping to attract others, like bees) .
Aromatic memories take us
back to those younger years
The smell of rhododendrons in the rain
of pine forests, locked on shores of silver sand
incence and the ringing of a bell.
The flowers are fragile
yet the memories remain
carried on the wind
'cross hill and plain
into the heart of one
who sings your name.
Is this a poem of love, or 'wait and see' love?
This poem is superb on so many levels. It touches on love to come, the hope of love, and the reminiscent love of love that lasts. I bow to your superior pen!
Reply:It makes me smile because that's how I feel now , so I'm saying this is truly a poem of love .
Reply:It is more a poem of lost love and its memories to me. You
make splendid usage of imagery, activate the sense of feeling, smelling, and even tasting and hearing. You seem nostalgic or wanting back once you once had or lost.
Nicely done!
Valrie in Ocala
Reply:I like this one for a miriad of reasons, the not least being the fact that I have an abnormal love for roses. My yard where I had lived before NAFTA put the company I worked for into Mexico, and put 2500 people out of work in a small Mississippi town had over 200 rose bushes in elevated beds, with a border of 14 rose trees, and a 30 foot long trellis covered walkway covered with climbing roses. The fence was covered with pink wild roses which only bloomed once a year. I had to sell and move, and the people who bought it bulldozed them all up and relandscaped the yard. That was 10 years ago, and it still pains me. Thank you for the beautiful sentiment on roses.
Reply:I don't think there's any "wait and see" about it...I consider it a poem of true love. It's beautiful, by the way.
Reply:I think it's past, present and future love. Whatever way you interpret it, it's beautiful.
Reply:It's poem TO LOVE I think. Not a love manifested in a particular form yet, but an announcement that LOVE is a viable force, that collectively we all can feel it at different points, and the memory of it, passed down from time, keeps it very much alive now and in what is to come.
Reply:It's a Lundburger poem of someone who loves flowers, nature, pleasant scents yet holding onto the memories of Scandinavia.
Fas takes us away...leading to rolling hills and mountains of Sweden and Norway carried by the songs of the wind back down to the sun drenched beaches...
Returning back to the ocean where we can sit on our decks and feast on shrimp, cracked crab and good wine...
Ha ha ha .....have I confused U yet...not really...I just enjoyed it.
You Go Girl....
Reply:Its a poem of sweet, gentle romantic love. Love as it should be..
Reply:Your words are truly beautiful. I felt it was about personal and universal love at the same time- past, present and future loves- love faraway and surrounding,all at once. Such a beautiful poem. Thank you.
Reply:Hi Elyslund,
What I get our of your poem is it's a past Love and you can't forget because of all the memories you still have.. An AWESOME poem My Friend..
A Friend,
poppy1
Reply:my interpretation of the poem is of spring and that love is in the air.
Reply:What...Huh...Poems...I can't look at another...
Reply:wow....this is amazing! it creates such powerful imagery! i can just smell the roses, the incense(sp? lol)....that was beautiful!
~Deadly Poetry
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Ummm - the title of the poem is misleading.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is MINE - and was purloined by an unscrupulous would-be publisher, who changed a couple of lines (about bringing flowers to the DEAD) and tried to flatter a poetry editor with it.
Surprisingly, one or two of you have come close to its true meaning, nonetheless.
"past, present and future love" - yes, and especially
"an announcement that LOVE is a viable force, that collectively we all can feel it at different points, and the memory of it, passed down from time, keeps it very much alive now and in what is to come."
But, specifically, it's an ilahi - a love
poem to God, the God who embodies all love.
(And that's why I've been so angry at finding it stolen and debased.)