A slight change of pace today, from our little boy camping in the mountains, to something a bit less jovial. Because, you know. Life can’t be all rope swings and summer smiles. Hope you enjoy it, anyway. 😀
The Last Rose
by Marcia Meara
Late July, and
The day drowses,
Air heavy and still.
Bees moving slowly from
Flower to flower,
In a dance weighed down by heat.
Sleepy hours spent dreaming, longing
For other places, other chances.
Anything better
Than one more day
Spent under this weight,
With movements made slow,
Like easy prey.
He walked out of the dust
And into the garden,
The answer to a prayer.
Wickedly handsome, he came to her with
A smile full of promises she chose to believe.
Take me away, she begged.
Yes, he whispered, of course.
Whatever you want, my beautiful girl.
He gave her dreams of cool, green hills
And kisses that tasted of summer peaches.
Sweet lies on a sweeter tongue,
Promises whispered with hot breath,
Against already burning skin,
And everywhere, the smell of roses
Thick on the summer air.
But winter came,
Bringing brittle wind
Seeping under the sill,
As cold as hungry lies
Told when the sun was warm.
Her heart is a frozen stone
In the center of her breast,
The chance of rescue,
Gone. Forgotten.
A faded rose in a dry vase
Drops one last petal to the floor,
As gray as her life
In this barren room.
Empty promises fled
With the summer sun,
And left nothing behind
But dead dreams and dying hope,
Gasping and huddled
Against the bitter
Cold.
Download Summer Magic here: Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love
My poems have also appeared in the following Silver Birch Press Anthologies:
Noir Erasure Poetry Anthology (Silver Birch Press Anthologies Book 5) Kindle Editionhttp://amzn.to/2B8jhWX
Summer: An Eclectic Anthology of Poetry & Prose (Silver Birch Press Anthologies Book 3) Kindle http://amzn.to/2BhzE4q
SILVER: An Eclectic Anthology of Poetry & Prose (Silver Birch Press Anthologies) Kindle Edition http://amzn.to/2A3XxPb
Green: An Eclectic Anthology of Poetry & Prose (Silver Birch Press Anthologies Book 2) Kindle Edition http://amzn.to/2jTQsdt
A fabulous poem, Marcia. Very tragic and emotional at the end.
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Thanks, Robbie. Yes, tragic, but sometimes that’s what happens when you choose to believe something you know you shouldn’t. (I suspect we’ve all done that at one point or another.) Glad you enjoyed it, Robbie.
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Beautiful, if tragic, Marcia.
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Thanks, Sue. Alas, tragedy of some level or another is often the result of not using at least a modicum of common sense. NOT blaming the girl. Just saying when you make a choice you know you shouldn’t, there’s a good chance you might regret it. 🙂 One can hope that once the pain is gone, she’ll have learned better than to be swept off her feet by good looks and sweet kisses alone. 😯
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That’s a lesson most of us end up learning the hard way 🙂
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Yes, well I’ll just say this about that: I had inspiration for this one. 😀 But thankfully, I’m older and wiser now. Especially older. 😀
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Yep, I know that feeling 😉 On both counts!
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Definitely melancholy, but quite powerful.
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Thanks, Staci. I believe she’ll survive that first winter, and come back a wiser woman for the experience. Beware the Handsome Stranger with Sweet Kisses and Sweeter Promises. (That should be on a T-shirt!) 😀 (I’m going back to resting now, I promise!)
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Beautiful, Marcia, even though it’s so very sad.
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Thanks, Mary. So glad you liked it. 🙂 ❤
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Love the analogy Marcia…I look at the brighter side and believe in the astute thought of Shelley : “if winter comes, can spring be far behind!”
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I suspect she will learn that lesson, too, once she lives through the misery. Next time, she’ll be a bit less gullible, perhaps? 😀
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Thank goodness the sun is shining today, Marcia 🙂 Beautifully tragic poem ❤
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That’s good, Tina! 😀 And thanks. Glad you liked it. 🙂 ❤
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Tragic poem Marcia. Glad to have read it but makes a person sad at that aspect of the human condition.
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Thanks, but take heart. It generally takes a knock or two along the way (sometimes even HARD ones) to learn to be a bit more cautious about strangers appearing out of nowhere to sweet talk you into believing what you wanted to hear. This is what’s known as a learning experience, and I feel sure that when the sun comes out again, our lonely lass will be ready to look for love once more–only with a modicum of common sense this time. That’s my story, an’ I’m stickin’ to it! 😀
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Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
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Thanks once more for sharing, Viv! It’s lovely that you do that so often. And very appreciated! 🙂
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Wow. What a poem, Marcia. So full of hope and dreams and barren disappointment and disillusionment. Beautifully written. ❤
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Thank you, Diana! So glad you liked it. But never fear. Once the winter wind blows away, and the sun comes out again, I think our heroine will take another chance on love, and perhaps she’ll be a bit wiser for this first unhappy experience. 🙂 Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, too. 😀
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Gorgeous Marsh. ❤
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Thanks so much! Glad you liked it, Deb! 🙂 ❤
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❤
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Pingback: The Last Rose – Marcia Meara | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
So touching and painful…who knew you were such a brilliant poet?
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Ummm, me? Hahahahaha. Oh, sometimes I crack myself up! 😀 Seriously, I’m a long way from a brilliant poet, but I do LOVE poetry, and have been writing it since I was five years old. So, I do have a little chapbook of poems out that I published right after my first novel, and every now and then, I’m compelled to share things from it. Especially if I find out it’s National Poetry Month! Glad you enjoyed it. I’ve been posting a poem a day for 3 or 4 days now, and the others are a bit more light-hearted. I’ll probably put another later today, too, just for fun. 😀 Thanks for taking the time to read and comment! Very much appreciated! 😀 ❤
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You are a brilliant poet, Barb, take it from me!
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Thanks so much, but just in case you didn’t mean this for me, I have to point out that I’m actually Marcia. 😀 If you did mean it for me, then I don’t care what you call me, I’m happy! 😀 😀 😀
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I thought I was talking to Barb… not all of my brain has returned to the fold yet. It was an amazing poem, though so the credit is yours!
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It’s all good. 🙂 Hope you get a chance to check out some of the others I’ve been posting this week. Got a new one coming today, too. 😀 ❤
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Will do!
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