The Fate of a Rose

The Fate of a Rose

By: Ethan West

Blood red stains the surface of the intertwining petals.  Like a tightly wound knot it keeps its grip.  Clasping around its own heart, letting the center of it just barely see the light that strained to give it life.  Large thorns thrust them self from its body, ready for the soft hand that would unwittingly pierce itself on them.  Yearning for the high pitched scream that would rent the air asunder.  Relishing the taste of blood as it slid sinisterly down its stem as the screams turned to tears.  The wails of its victim excited it, and made it want to spread itself out.  To take in the beautiful misery it  had caused.  But it could not move.  It would wait there until a rubber hand would pluck it from the brush.  Breaking the thorns that gave it joy, and then the very people it had oppressed would watch as it wilted and died in the windowsill.

     The sun beat down on its mangled corpse as its torturers plucked it once again from its perch.  Tossing it in the garbage, the lid closing over its broken form.  Then all was black...

Such is the fate of a rose....

Author's Note

A dark depiction of a common love symbol

Reviews

[EileenMarie]

wow..... my ex used to give me roses all the time! and I felt like

"the sun beat down on its mangled corpse as its torturers plucked it once again from its perch. Tossing it in the garbage, the lid closing over its broken form. Then all was black..."

after I left.........

wow...... powerful! Great write, great imagery.... so descriptive and right on!

[ewest1220]

Wow thanks! I'm really thrilled you liked it!

[Androglossia]

One can answer that roses don't usually just drop dead on the ground; they sicken first and are likely to die in their temporary or any other place. Not just in ways love goes but also like human, they acquired life, they live the life bestowed to them, then they get sick all of a sudden or worse harmed by others and then they bleed to death.

It's beautiful how your poem speaks of the cycle of love and life on earth and all of the things around it. You have impressively simplified a view that's larger than life itself.

[ewest1220]

Wow! Thank you for the very detailed review I'm thrilled you enjoyed my work!

[Serenity Faith]

Absolutely wicked....I'm not sure I have anything else to say really. A very deep write, done simply well. Keep up the awesome work!

[ewest1220]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

[TheJordBaker]

very intriguing, as people have said- the mix of elegance and darkness is great and the piece leaves an affect on me as the reader.
nicely written.

[ewest1220]

Wow I'm really thrilled you liked it!

[allie_arrowz]

i love how you intertwined the beauty and the darkness, and then tie it back to reality. very nice

[ewest1220]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[Admiral Kirk]

Wow, very powerful. And interesting how it describes a symbol of love, maybe love itself, dying and being put out with the trash... Excellent write.

[ewest1220]

Interesting perspective. I like it! Thanks for reading! Send me some read requests I'd love to see your work as well

[Admiral Kirk]

Alright, I will. Thanks. :)

[eighwoeifj]

I don't know what to say anymore besides your writing is amazing. I love how you describe the feelings of a rose like a person's. Giving it joy, giving it death, 'mangled corpse'; all of these seem to make the rose a person instead of just a flower, giving the meaning that much more emphasis. Beautiful.

[ewest1220]

Thanks for the review. It really means a lot to me that you like it :)

[eighwoeifj]

No problem. I love your writing. If you need anything else reviewed, be sure to send it to me!

[L0v3craft]

I love how you write with a dark nature and yet maintain such a strange beauty that's both unsettling and "mind-pleasing"...if that makes sense xD

Humanizing the rose and then tossing it through a whirlwind of misery and torture is just about the most poetic thing in classic beauty :D

[ewest1220]

Unsettling and mind pleasing. I see how that makes sense :) I'm really glad you liked it!

[Brandon Mathis]

Relishing the taste of blood as it slid sinisterly down its stem as the screams turned to tears is my fav. line once again very good title and i love how you grasp the fate of the rose. very good poem!!!!

[ewest1220]

Thank you! Once again I'm thrilled you liked it.

[Brandon Mathis]

well you have good poems man keep em' up!!

[Melody]

This indeed is a very dark but yet, seems true, depiction. Great job. :)

[ewest1220]

Thank you! Glad you liked it.