Stupidity
Dearest, forgive that with my clumsy touch
I broke and bruised your rose.
I hardly could suppose
It were a thing so fragile that my clutch
Could kill it, thus.
It stood so proudly up upon its stem,
I knew no thought of fear,
And coming very near
Fell, overbalanced, to your garment’s hem,
Tearing it down.
Now, stooping, I upgather, one by one,
The crimson petals, all
Outspread about my fall.
They hold their fragrance still, a blood-red cone
Of memory.
And with my words I carve a little jar
To keep their scented dust,
Which, opening, you must
Breathe to your soul, and, breathing, know me far
More grieved than you.





Related poetry:
- From Citron-Bower From citron-bower be her bed, Cut from branch of tree a-flower, Fashioned for her maidenhead. From Lydian apples, sweet of […]...
- Stupidity Stupidity, woe’s anodyne, Be kind and comfort me in mine; Smooth out the furrows of my brow, Make me as […]...
- Tableau at Twilight I sit in the dusk. I am all alone. Enter a child and an ice-cream cone. A parent is easily […]...
- Memory Brightly the sun of summer shone, Green fields and waving woods upon, And soft winds wandered by; Above, a sky […]...
- Psalm 51 part 3 The backslider restored. O Thou that hear’st when sinners cry, Though all my crimes before thee lie, Behold them not […]...
- Leave Me, My Blamer XIII Leave me, my blamer, For the sake of the love Which unites your soul with That of your beloved one; […]...
- Of That So Sweet Imprisonment Of that so sweet imprisonment My soul, dearest, is fain – Soft arms that woo me to relent And woo […]...
- Harold Arnett I leaned against the mantel, sick, sick, Thinking of my failure, looking into the abysm, Weak from the noon-day heat. […]...
- Flying Inside Your Own Body Your lungs fill & spread themselves, Wings of pink blood, and your bones Empty themselves and become hollow. When you […]...
- Elizabeth Childers Dust of my dust, And dust with my dust, O, child who died as you entered the world, Dead with […]...
- Sand Dabs, Five What men build, in the name of security, is built of straw. * Does the grain of sand know it […]...
- Petals Life is a stream On which we strew Petal by petal the flower of our heart; The end lost in […]...
- Hypochondriac Maybe it’s Emphysema, a shiny black jewel of phlegm Humming like a clump of bees in my chest. Perhaps a […]...
- Mild the mist upon the hill Mild the mist upon the hill Telling not of storms tomorrow; No, the day has wept its fill, Spent its […]...
- Diya {original title is Greek, Delta-iota-psi-alpha} Look, Dear, how bright the moonlight is to-night! See where it casts the shadow of that tree Far out upon […]...
- Church Monuments While that my soul repairs to her devotion, Here I intomb my flesh, that it betimes May take acquaintance of […]...
- To J. S The wind, that beats the mountain, blows More softly round the open wold, And gently comes the world to those […]...
- The Oven Bird There is a singer everyone has heard, Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird, Who makes the solid tree trunks […]...
- Song of the Flower XXIII I am a kind word uttered and repeated By the voice of Nature; I am a star fallen from the […]...
- When WHEN mine hour is come Let no teardrop fall And no darkness hover Round me where I lie. Let the […]...
- Poem (Halleck monument dedication) SAY not the Poet dies! Though in the dust he lies, He cannot forfeit his melodious breath, Unsphered by envious […]...
- The Autumn Go, sit upon the lofty hill, And turn your eyes around, Where waving woods and waters wild Do hymn an […]...
- 103. To Ruin ALL hail! inexorable lord! At whose destruction-breathing word, The mightiest empires fall! Thy cruel, woe-delighted train, The ministers of grief […]...
- Herman Altman Did I follow Truth wherever she led, And stand against the whole world for a cause, And uphold the weak […]...
- The Temper How should I praise thee, Lord! how should my rhymes Gladly engrave thy love in steel, If what my soul […]...
- Percival Sharp Observe the clasped hands! Are they hands of farewell or greeting, Hands that I helped or hands that helped me? […]...
- The Island of Skyros Here, where we stood together, we three men, Before the war had swept us to the East Three thousand miles […]...
- A Letter I have been wondering What you are thinking about, and by now suppose It is certainly not me. But the […]...
- Dilemma If I were mild, and I were sweet, And laid my heart before your feet, And took my dearest thoughts […]...
- To the Moon Oh gracious moon, now as the year turns, I remember how, heavy with sorrow, I climbed this hill to gaze […]...
- Oft, in the Stilly Night Oft, in the stilly night, Ere slumber’s chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light Of other days around […]...
- The Light of Other Days OFT, in the stilly night, Ere slumber’s chain has bound me, Fond Memory brings the light Of other days around […]...
- Hymn 91 Advice to youth; or, Old age and death in an unconverted state. Eccl. 12:1,7; Isa. 45:20. Now in the heat […]...
- After Making Love We Hear Footsteps For I can snore like a bullhorn Or play loud music Or sit up talking with any reasonably sober Irishman […]...
- SHE CANNOT END WHEN unto thee I sent the page all white, Instead of first thereon inscribing aught, The space thou doubtless filledst […]...
- Life Is A Privilege Life is a privilege. Its youthful days Shine with the radiance of continuous Mays. To live, to breathe, to wonder […]...
- A Brand New Life 1/ My dearest child, my dearest love Come to Ayah, who has just come My dearest star, my brightest sun […]...
- Sonnet 06 Oh, you are more desirable to me Than all I staked in an impulsive hour, Making my youth the sport […]...
- On the Wye in May Now is the perfect moment of the year. Half naked branches, half a mist of green, Vivid and delicate the […]...
- On Music When through life unblest we rove, Losing all that made life dear, Should some notes we used to love, In […]...