Poem - Dagger and Rose

The dynamics of inheritance can be ugly. Possessions become more important the the proceeding years. Perhaps the reverse is true at the darkest times, that the treasures are the price for the past.


Dagger and Rose
Poem for Day 224 – 20150812

The dagger and the rose,
one for death and one for love.
Do you know the difference
when the inheritance is beget?
Gather the family all around,
open the will and spill the words.
The truth will set you free,
the tools at hand make men brave.

The rose is set with thorns,
protection from the questing hand.
Marked with sheen of life's tears,
are you sure it is not blood shed?
The dagger held in the hilt,
threat imagined more than seen.
Coax the serpent from its lair
only if you want to feel it's sting.

First the greetings were exchanged,
hushed by the desires all felt.
The tools were close at hand,
ready to use with velvet glove.
Each held by the loving kin,
ready to strike and draw blood first.
A contest with only winners
when the losers are all removed.

The dagger and the rose,
one for death and one for love.
In time the difference will be clear
when only the dead remain.
Ask them which was embraced,
you'll be told that justice came first.
The choice was made by the fallen
as they struck each other down.

© 2015, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved.