7/31/2019 Sketch of a Rose

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Sketch of a Rose

Six outer petals

Blown wide from the center,

Each tinged a pale pink-white;

An unevenly scalloped borderTo the deeper pink of the central

Vein-meshed petal.

(As I write this,

Stomach down on my bed,

Pillows under my chest,

My heartbeat makes the stem,

Which touches mattress-edge,

Sway to my pulse)

A second layer of petals

Swirls back to the center.

Less flamboyant than the outer circle,

They lead to the last, close-curled

Pink leaves which protect the spear

Of the unfurled bud,

All it contains hidden;All it will be, withheld,

From the moment, from my eye.