Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Tuesday Poem - Three Roses by Timothy Cahill

                                      
       
                                 THREE ROSES


                                 through the night I dreamed of her
                                 and three roses for my love -


                                 the first dry as memory
                                 fugitive, a concentrate
                                 of beauty drawn tight to the heart


                                 next a climbing blossoming vine
                                 incarnadine in the dawn
                                 mingled scents of spice and sky


                                 and the last a winter rose
                                 bare and barbed
                                 in silence staunched against the cold


                                 yet at the root
                                 all the art of bud and bloom


                                 Timothy Cahill



Timothy Cahill - writer, photographer and editor of Art Conservator, the magazine of the Williamstown Art Conservation Center - is founding director of The Center for Documentary Arts at The Sage Colleges in Albany, New York. Tim blogs here, where - in his statement of intention, he writes "The Center for Documentary Arts is an initiative to increase humanitarian awareness and foster compassion through the power of the documentary arts. Documentary arts are those narrative forms of photography, film, oral history, theater, painting, poetry, etc. that address social themes and reveal the human condition. . . "   

Three Roses moves me for many reasons, one of these being its acceptance of the heart's seasons. The poem lovingly illuminates the vulnerabilities and hopes inherent in our most intimate and enduring relationships. As with each and every truly creative process, love is asked to accommodate all weathers, including periods of what can seem like dormancy. Ah, and then the miracle of discovery. . . incubation; rich is the compost given over for its purpose - to break down the stubborn shape of things, nourish roots, promote growth in unseen places. . .      


                                  ". . . yet at the root
                         all the art of bud and bloom."



For more Tuesday Poems, please click on the quill. Kathleen Jones (a recent winner in the inaugural Straid Poetry Prize) is this week's editor; she has chosen The Hieroglyph Moth - a beautiful, ephemeral poem by French-born, Welsh-based poet Pascale Petit






17 comments:

  1. Ah, yes: like you I love those final lines.

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  2. Sigh. Oh, Claire, what a lovely poem. Double sigh. xo

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  3. What Helen said. :)

    Claire, I have something frivolous, fun, yet sincere for you on my recent post.

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  4. how gracefully the poet walks around this subject, as though he were a photographer clicking away snapshots at different intervals of time and space, capturing this sensual image here, that emotional frisson there. so lovely....

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  5. Helen and Melissa - yes.
    Thank you.
    Sigh and double sigh.
    L, C

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  6. Dear Antares C - fun, frivolous and sincere sounds like the perfect synthesis. How welcome - thank you. I will be over to your place to have a look-see before I leave for Phoenix (in just a few hours; am still packing the last few bits 'n bobs into my suitcase - looking forward to being in the N. Hemisphere summer for a few weeks!). Whatever it is you are speaking of, thank you. . . L, C

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  7. Dear Susan, how beautifully you express things; yes, this is a photgrapher's poem, an intimate album of images enlivened by the sense of one who pays attention to detail whilst listening for its subtler messages. 'Tis very lovely, yes. xo

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  8. Mm, the shape of this poem - the movement across time is so spare and powerful. I feel drawn to the blossoming vine.

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  9. A rose that grows in prose to propose unyeilding love, and with nurture does prosper with a wealth of health in the stealth of growth: and the nutrients are suppliments to these achievments.

    A good poem that I enjoyed reading. Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

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  10. Dear Claire,
    I hope you are/were well in Phoenix.
    xoxo
    Rachel

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  11. I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience when you get back.

    Thought I'd let you know, I posted a creative video that I think you'll appreciate. Sharing ;)
    http://antarescryptos.blogspot.com/2011/05/when-art-meets-music-video.html

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  12. That is such a nice poem, thanks for sharing.

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  13. Hi Elizabeth
    Apologies for my slow reply. . . Right now, an errant climbing rose is blossoming at a time when - ordinarily - it would be looking tired and straggly after months of summer display. It was a welcome surprise to return home to these exuberant pink flowers.
    Since love is the poet's subject here, what might this say of love?
    ; )
    L, C x

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  14. Hi Andrew -thanks for visiting! 'Tis a pleasure to find a new reader here.
    The first line of your comment begs another poem. . .
    "A rose that grows in prose to propose. . ." Love it!
    I've enjoyed browsing your blog and look forward to doing so again. Take care - Claire

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  15. Dear RachvB
    Phoenix was as its name suggests.
    I am still feeling dazzled; it could take a while to straighten my new feathers. More about it when the words start coming. . . thanks for popping in to leave xoxo while I've been away.
    Much love
    Claire xo

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  16. Dear Ant. C -
    What a terrific video - thanks for sharing! I esp. love the pace of it, the subtlety and drama of the black & white; even the discomforting bits are mesmerizing in their familiarity and unfamiliarity.
    My time in Phoenix and afterwards has been quite something. One of the stories I look forward to telling has to do with my experience of a viola interpreting my body's energy system; creating a musical equivalent to my personal vibrations. (I met a composer in Phoenix who is an expert on harmonics and 'does' intuitive readings - a shaman and healer.). . . science, art and mysticism in the same full circle.

    Looking forward to catching up on the details of your past weeks, too. I am relieved to know you got over your nasty lurgy and are still with us, Ant!

    L, C

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  17. Hello Toyin O.
    Lovely to see you back here - hope you are well and things are steady in your part of the world.
    L, C

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