My Bannered Rose Love is my bowl of cereal my boarding pass my ruler and my nemesis no no no love is granddaughter’s dollies, trips to the dollar store, disarray and peanut butter love predates dinosaurs shines from the heavens dog paddles through muck love loves beginnings, endings, in-betweens, love loves hate, dirty laundry, tawdry sentiment I praise love, indict love, throw love under the bus, deny love its name yes yes yes I say to love that fries me in its skillet, entombs me in its snows you are my plum, my freight, my bannered rose, yet I’ll grant you no credence and gnaw at your bones should something better even than you come along.
Darrell Petska is a retired university engineering editor and a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee. His writing has appeared in Amethyst Review, Soul-Lit, 3rd Wednesday Magazine, Buddhist Poetry Review, Verse-Virtual, and widely elsewhere (conservancies.wordpress.com). A father of five and grandfather of six, he lives near Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife of more than 50 years.
Amethyst Review 