Stubborn Rose
Janine Canan
The peacock's scream
floods the valley
as he draws his long blue and gold tail
over the bright green grass.
*
Night descends on the howling earth.
Where the guardians once stood--
elderberry, fir, cedar and spruce--
day gapes.
*
The gray-haired woman
painstakingly
paints rose cream
on her vanishing mouth.
*
Honored heron on your rock,
can you tell me what o'clock?
Is it time to hurry home
or may I watch you stare at Rome?
*
There!
Like a ladybug I rise
up through azure dusk
into her whirling white Eye.
*
Stubborn rose,
straining against the ripping winds
you splay your last pink bud
wide open to the light.
