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Poetry Sunday: One Perfect Rose

Dorothy Parker certainly had a way with words and a quirky sense of humor. Both are displayed to full effect in her poem "One Perfect Rose."

 One Perfect Rose

 by Dorothy Parker

 A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet -
One perfect rose. 

 I knew the language of the floweret;
'My fragile leaves,' it said, 'his heart enclose.'
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

 Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
Not perfect perhaps, but still nice for November.
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Comments

  1. JayneNovember 27, 2016 at 10:35 AM

    Love this Dorothy - and such a lovely rose.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersNovember 27, 2016 at 12:32 PM

      It's 'Darcy Bussell' which has done very well for me this year and is still putting out lots of blooms.

      Delete
  2. AlanaNovember 27, 2016 at 1:07 PM

    I love Dorothy Parker. Would you believe, we still have roses here and there in upstate New York even now? Even after a record November snowstorm?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersNovember 27, 2016 at 3:04 PM

      Roses are tough as well as beautiful. Maybe they are an apt "amulet" for love.

      Delete
  3. CarmenNovember 27, 2016 at 1:28 PM

    What a fun poem! I guess a perfect limousine would be welcomed too! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Judy KruegerNovember 28, 2016 at 3:24 PM

    I also love Dorothy Parker. I just get her humor. I once read a biography about her, I think it was called The Viscious Circle which included portraits of all those Algonquin Roundtable folks. She was not a happy person, she drank a lot, and had a sharp tongue. My kind of woman. Then there was the movie, Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle. I recommend both, unless you just want to read her poetry which is also great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersNovember 28, 2016 at 5:48 PM

      I do appreciate her acerbic sense of humor. It seems to fit our times very well.

      Delete

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