A watercolor struggles with a rose.
Can't fully grasp its thorny disposition.
Its fragrance -- so, so easy for a nose,
won't pose -- and the resulting composition
feels sterile, more a postcard on a shelf,
a washed-out, antiseptic-looking copy,
than a reflection of its truer self,
no different than a tulip or a poppy.
What's needed then? A sharper, finer line?
A better brush with tempera? Acrylic?
To grant your rose a touch of the divine,
replace the blissful, pastoral, idyllic,
with chaos, life unmitigated, raw,
and then step back, and let your flowers grow.
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