A woman at the cemetery
bought a rose
each day
for six months
and laid it
by a graveside
She saved a thorn
from each rose
until the last day
when she dropped them
from her hands,
covering the earth
around a corpse
She approached me where I stood,
as I still do each day,
near a tiny memory box
that I buried in the soil
and she handed me a rose,
smiled then walked away
I never knew her,
I only ever saw her,
buying a rose each day
for six months
but it felt like I knew her
Maybe she was an angel
That`s how I choose to remember her
Comments
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I don't know if Angellina is the woman at the cemetary or the tiny one being mourned over, but this is a very touching poem. The dropping of the thorns must be the letting go of the saddness. The corpse must have been 6 months old since that's how long the angel bought a rose for each day. Then she stopped on "the last day." The six months was up then. Handing you the rose seem to end the ritual. Like this is the end of the mourning period. It's time to move on. I liked this very much.
Birdie
language: 4, rhythm: 4, subject: 4, tone: 4, form: 4.
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hey Birdie,great comment,your interpretation is excellent,
Angellina(body) and the woman(soul) represent the body and soul of a miscarried child,the 6 months is roughly the period of time it would`ve taken for Angellina/memory box to have actually been born,the woman/soul pass me a rose(without a thorn)as if to say that my period of mourning is at an end but i can`t let go as i still go back to the cemetery to visit Angellina/memory box even after the woman/soul has left the cemetery forever..there are one or two even more obscure meanings but it`s a very personal poem that only the writer can fully understand
thank you Birdie
bye
rhetorica
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I've read this earlier, but didn't know what to say. Re-reading it, i think i can comment properly. The first stanza established a death and deep lost. In the second stanza, the gathering of the torn was a beautiful and painful image. Though the mourning was taken place, the guilt was insistent; hence the need to gather the thorns. The letting go of the thorns seems to symbolize a letting go of memories and guilt. On the third stanza, is another person, holding on to a memory. The handing of the rose felt like a consolation, a reassuring motion that the person need not sit by the tiny memory box and carry on with the guilt.
Its an interesting unfolding of a poem and journey into the feelings of those who have lost and those who carry the guilt.
I read your explanation to this poem and re-reading the poem; it fills in the unsaid.
-iphios -
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hey iphios,thanks for reading Angellina,
your comment is exceptional as this is a very personal poem so its near enough impossible to know what its all about although you have described it as well as anyone could,it is great for me that you noticed the passing of the rose to the man mourning over a memory box,its the most significant part in the poem regarding my feelings
see you soon iphios
rhet
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I love it. I love the idea/story line(?). And how the ending.
Maybe she was an angel
That`s how I choose to remember her
It's sad but sweet at the same time (bitter sweet?!).
I really like it.
Himmel
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hi Him,thank you very much..its a very personal poem so it`s bound to leave questions unanswered although i tried to explain it in an earlier reply
see you soon
rhet
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wow great job. some much symbolism can be drawn from it. meaning left to interpretation. is the narrator dead? or is the lady dead? or are they both alive? haha good write
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hey Ryan,thank you,im happy the poem came across like that as its only the writer who can fully understand it so its bound to raise questions which,come to think of it now, makes it a shit poem as its too personal..oh well
see you later
rhet
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As The Dead Arose...
Nice laconic feel to this one, Rhet. Bittersweet notions of dedication and demise, I thought. Redolent imagery of blooms but evincing the thorny flipside of a beautiful scene in a graveyard.
Forgive my ignorance, but what does the memory box denote? Is it a coffin? A miniature one?
The parts concerning the gathering of thorns (hey, now THATs a title for something!) was for me the highlight, mate. Good job.
Regards
gGraveside
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hi gG,thank you my friend,theres a few layers to this one,the memory box is indeed a tiny coffin that exists in my mind,the coffin of my child that never had a chance to develop inside her mother who decided she no longer wanted a baby and there was nothing that could`ve been done to stop her getting rid of it
the woman is there to represent the aborted child,as if she is saying,."its been long enough for you to mourn, heres a rose(without a thorn) and a smile so you know my soul has been set free and you set it free by loving me
I made the choice to decide my child was an angel so i could carry on growing myself,rather than be stuck mourning but it hasn`t worked because i mention that i still go back to the metaphorical graveyard..the thorns are there to tell me that my love for my child/woman was pure and the laying of thorns around corpses was her freeing the souls of those who were stuck in purgatory
( as the catholics like to call it)
i`ve never tried to explain in any length what some of my poems are about,im most pleased i was given the chance to explain it to you
i hope i have made some sense
thanks again gG
rhet
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hmmmmm. see i think i may be loosing it. From the outside it looks like it is a babling freewrite. but as soon as i get into i love it. Sure its more like a short story but it has depth to it. It makes me think. Also i like how the reader can choose to belive its an angel or belive it is simply a woman that comes to the cemetary often. Great poem.
-hunter
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hey deadmanrose3,thank you very much,sometimes thats exactly what i try to do when i write,make it sound like it`s written by a child when in fact every word of this poem was considered as i wrote it..im pleased it came across like that for you
see you soon
rhet -
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