Digital Rabbit Hole

                                                  Image-Bed of Roses by Dale Innis

Bed of Roses

It’s sad, that I was not the one to feel the love
you promised and proclaimed.
There was too much mystery swirling around you.
and in the end there was too much pain.
On a night I had dreamed about,
since I was was only thirteen,
who really knew then, what our future held,
when you whispered, seductively, “My Queen”

I had been in love with you,
since love started to make sense to me.
I saw you everywhere and you conquered
my thoughts, my dreams and fantasies.
Everyone who saw you, only saw you as a heartache,
not as a love forever…
You were a treacherous rogue; although many had cried, to your lies,
I knew deep down inside, I could do it better

So that is why, on our wedding night,
I had prepared for us a bed of fresh cut roses.
The satin sheets, a few peaches and cream
and the rest, flowering crimson roses,
I perfumed and oiled my hair with the essence
of flowers from rivers and springs;
roses brushed our faces, and touched our thighs
while I, supine, about to bloom, tumbled over the springs.

You knew I would never join you in bed
unless we had said our vows, exchanged our rings.
You made me the happiest girl who had ever dreamed;
we were so beautiful together, a bronzed pair of figurines.
But then I realized we were not together at all,
you were a single actor on a stage where I had shone my shame.
The rose thorns pierced my flesh, my hope, my heart.
When in your heat of passion, you called out someone else’s name.

Even though on our wedding night,
I had prepared for us a bed of fresh cut roses.
The satin sheets, a few peaches and cream
and the rest, flowering crimson roses,
I perfumed and oiled my hair with the essence
of flowers from rivers and springs;
roses brushed our faces, and touched our thighs
while I, supine, about to bloom, tumbled over the springs.

Karima Hoisan
December 14, 2022
Costa Rica.