‘Eternal Rose’ by Shari Jo LeKane

The autumn sun warming
keeps rose bushes forming
well into the days of December,
but frost without warning
one fine winter morning
leaves frozen blooms long to remember.

Dormant, it’s waiting
yet anticipating
what gray rainy showers will bring,
the bush saturating
while never complaining
sprouts roses that flower in spring.

Shari Jo LeKane lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she writes poetry, prose and articles; specializes in literary criticism and non-profit matters. She has a B.A. in English, Spanish, and an M.A. in Spanish from Saint Louis University in Madrid and St. Louis. Since brain surgery, she volunteer teaches creative writing in a maximum security jail and works for civil rights attorneys. She completed a novel in verse, Poem to Follow, and is featured in several poetry anthologies, including the Missouri VSA 2013 Anthology, Turning the Clocks Forward Again; Poetica Victorian; Red Dashboard Disorder Anthology: Mental Illness and Its Effects; The Muse India/Createspace Anthology Of Present Day Best Poems; Bordertown Press Poetry of People on the Move; and Literature Today International Journal of Contemporary Literature. Shari’s poetry has appeared in several literary magazines in the U.S., Canada, England, India, Ireland and Spain.