A Rose For Longing

Here's a poem I wrote for a friend of mine to give to his girlfriend. Man, sometimes my bullshit flows faster than the interstate. Just a note: I no longer indulge in Baroque, utterly ridiculous displays of flowery verbal vomiting, and for the record, Romantic period art and literature suck the proverbial dick.

A Rose for Longing

By

Lucas Corso

A Request

What can I say
That hasn’t been said
Or purloined from the poets
Of time immemorial down
Through the long dusty ages
An archaic Grecian urn
Inscribed with the exploits of
Hero’s Herculean danger
Duels or the amours of Aphrodite
Against the walls of the Acropolis
With the unsuspecting peasant
Boy bravo and the bulls of
Etruscan legend lover’s
Tombs dry and devoid
Of the kisses of the marriage
Vow and vanquished
Hope buried beneath the sands
Of Tel Amarna absolute
Avowal anger of the gods
Great and small
And the petty whispers
Of men long dead.

So, what can I say or
Surrender to the winds
Blowing west across
The dire empty wheatfields
And the purple mountains
Majestic to find your ears
In time for your waking moments
To reflect a kiss through the prisms
Of temporal time space sight
And sound I can’t express
A single thing that’s new
Or true or blue eyed
Sympathetic songbird
Soliloquies offered to audiences
Of the blind dumb and deaf
I’m dying to tell you
Something that will curl
Your toes and
Make the California sun shine
Extra long and bright
Upon your golden skin
And produce a smile
To melt the hearts
Of those residing in
Utter darkness
But alas, I’m not
Up to the
Task.

So, what does a commoner
In a carnal kingdom
Produce as a worthy gift
To garner the graces
Of her majesty’s good
Will and warrant a kiss
Pure as the snow
And desired by the many
Men prostrate at her feet
Hoping only for a glance
Or a whisper of words
Never wasted but gathered
Like diamonds and preserved
In amphoras ethereal
And scribbled on scrolls
With all the care of
The illuminated texts
Of the risen redeemer
And the sacrosanct
Siddhartha nothing
But a kiss blown on the
Wind and sealed with
Wishes for her happiest
Fortune and a love
Everlasting in her heart
Body and soul to sustain
Her when the memories
Of youth and yesterday
Can’t console her
The only thing that I can
Give you is a smile and
And a piece of my heart
Which you already have
Forever happy birthday
My darling dearest
Rose.