Words and the world passing by; how it sings to me; how I clamour back.
My rose was blue
I stepped beneath the arch
My rose was gold
Or peach
Softness incarnate
Never crimson
Never bold
Tentative like my
Steps.
I rose beneath the arch
To meet four faces
Framed with snake
With sea
With sinister teeth
With chains
With all the keys I need
To break free.
I rose and took
The proffered seaweed
Tiny bladders ready
To pop with salty sweetness
A shoreline promise
Of things to come.
I rose, hands out
Filled with light;
Stepping into darkness
My rose was black
Ashen; withered
Suddenly alive again!
Gold and glowing
Snakebite antidote
Starlight flowing
I rose; I gasped; I smiled.