Winter Rose

by Alethea Eason

I am a rose opening blood red petals

that have gripped my small furled heart,

layered like lacquered nails over the nectar,

hiding my heart from the lips of the sun

the petals hold off the kiss,

but the breath of the blue day

tears open my flowering face,

petal after petal becoming ruby tongues

my heart wants to find shade in the night,

to hide in the slant light of winter's weak sun,

but the rose is blossoming red in the cold dry air

* * * * *

Alethea Eason is the author of three novels, Hungry, Starved, and Heron's Path. Her poetry, short stories and essays have appeared in www.delsolreview.com, Lamplight Magazine, The Fictional Cafe, The Episcopal Cafe, the anthology The Kindness of Strangers, and ironsoap.com, among other journals, websites, and magazines. She was an educator in California and Chile, and has offered classes called Renew Your Muse dealing with intuitive, creative and spiritual expression, especially for those who feel art does not live inside of them. It does!