The Rose Within

Aliya Karimjee/Spill The Trend.

Dear rose,

As soft whispers of air breeze through spring,
A seed is cradled by the soil's embrace.
The earth gives birth to a fragile offering,
Breathing in the sun, you unfold with grace.

One by one, your vibrant red petals bloom so bright,
Kissing the air with a floral fragrance that is pure and true.
Beneath your layers, inner beauty ignites,
The world is reborn through you.

I received you, a rose, from his gentle hands.
I admire your petals through rose-coloured glasses, I admit.
As I pull at your petals, pluck, pluck, pluck, I wonder where love stands, 
But it's more than his love I'm seeking, isn't it?

I fear another's love may come before mine,
It's not his love I seek, but my own light.
In you, I find envy for your bloom so divine,
For each petal, ask, "Do I love myself right?"

Drip, drip, drip, I shower you with nurturing care,
I tear up, drip, drip, drip, wishing I had that love to give myself.
You embody all I long for--hope, love, and beauty so rare,
I'd flood oceans just to feel that love in my own self. 

But time moves on, and slowly, you begin to fade,
I cling to the last pieces of you, drying your form.
Yet they're just a canvas of memories laid,
Your life may pass, but your presence is everlastingly warm.

I realize you're disposable, 
Yet why do I cherish your beauty so? 
The journey of blooming was undeniable, 
Oh, how I miss the love I used to know.

Beyond your petals lie your sharp thorns,
Soft petals shield the walls you've grown.
Like me, you protect what's tender, worn,
With each scar, you're stronger, though alone.

Though love comes and goes, the marks always stay,
Shaping the way we love and who we trust.
In your thorns, I see the cost of love's play,
A reminder that hearts, though broken, still must adjust.

As your last petal falls, the sadness may rise,
But your memory lingers, resilient and strong.
Should the loss of you mean I lose my own ties?
Or does love, like you, bloom despite what's wrong?

Until the next bloom, 
Aliya Karimjee

Explanation: 

This poem-letter is addressed to a non-human entity: a rose, a metaphor for the speaker’s own journey of self-love and growth. The title, ‘The Rose Within,’ reflects the speaker’s own capacity to bloom. It relates the human need to connect with non-human entities with the wish to comfort oneself in something beyond ego to ease existential loneliness. 

Drawing on Robin Behn’s advice in “Letter Poems,” the poem uses second-person narration to reflect that yearning for connection and establish an intimate bond with the rose. Furthermore, the poem follows Jonathan Culler’s approach of using personification to give the rose a distinct presence, summoning powerful sensory images in “Rhetoric, Poetics, and Poetry.” Moreover, I use vivid descriptions like “soft whispers of air breeze through spring” and bring the rose to life by personifying its creation as birth; “The earth gives birth to a fragile offering.” Equally, I create a “show, don’t tell” effect by incorporating the five senses: sight: “vibrant red petals,”  touch: “pull at your petals pluck, pluck, pluck,” hearing: watering the rose “Drip, drop, drop,” taste: “kissing the air,” and smell: “floral fragrance pure and true.” 

The poem employs various literary devices to create a melodic rhythm and construct a powerful aesthetic effect. For instance, hyperbole is used to emphasize the speaker’s longing for self-love, as in the line ‘I’d flood oceans just to feel that love in my own self.’ Alliteration, such as in ‘soft whispers of air breeze through spring’ and ‘seed is cradled by the soil’s embrace,’ provides a more natural flow and a cohesive, harmonious feel to the opening stanza. Onomatopoeia, including ‘drip, drip, drip’ and ‘pluck, pluck, pluck,’ enhances sensory imagery, while metaphors like ‘Beyond your petals lie your sharp thorns,/soft petals shield the walls you’ve grown ‘use thorns as emotional defences, reflecting the human’s guardedness, while the rose’s fading mirrors love’s ephemeral nature. 

Structurally, the poem follows the rose’s life cycle in a linear progression. This symbolizes the journey toward self-love and the discovery of inner beauty found in life’s obstacles. The comparison between the rose and the human highlights self-love as both a journey and a transformation.

To conclude, The Rose Within explores the tension of longing for self-love through vivid imagery and personification. As a result, the rose becomes a symbol of vulnerability and resilience, reflecting the complexities of personal growth and the healing power of nurturing one’s inner self.

End note: I wrote this poem for my English Creative Writing class in the first semester of my third year of Journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University. Hope you enjoy the read! 🙂