This weekend I spent some time photographing flowers I purchased almost two weeks ago. The old roses captured my attention; they drew me in more than blooms in their prime. The petals were almost like skin. Today a FB post led me to “The Rose” a poem by Jean Valentine (from the book Little Boat, pubilshed in 2007 by Wesleyan University Press). The poem is copyrighted so I won’t quote the whole thing here; it’s the first lines that killed me. Read the entire poem at The Poetry Foundation site.
Wow, Ellen, the stanza fits the photograph perfectly. Those words are so compelling, simple, yet powerful.
Victoria–