Photo: V. Slotto
the color of longing
a quadrille
early winter doldrums
sky heavy with payne’s gray clouds
birds silent, gone
flowers sag
leaves weep while chill
seeps into old bones
but then a vibrant flash
an incongruous spark-
ing of a flame
shedding warmth
on this cold scene
(so like your touch)
Today, for our wonderful quadrille prompt at dVerse Poets, we are invited to submit a poem of exactly 44 words, no more, no less, that uses the work SPARK in any of its forms. Please join us for this prompt. The link is open all week.
This rose opened this last week, smack dab in the middle of our flower garden, defying the withering of everything else. I’ve cut back all the other rose bushes so this is truly “the last rose of summer.”
I will also add this to Cee’s Daily Flower (photography) prompt.
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 
[…] color of late afternoon, snow covered slopes, The color of longing is the Color my […]
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It surprises in a delightful way.
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I like the pleasant warmth amidst the chill. 🙂 What a treat when the weather freezes.
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This makes me want to growl at October.
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FiresTArt
Log
Loves
WinTer
smell of
Love smoke
that billows form..
a heArt that longs..:)
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Beautiful, the picture and the words.
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Ah, the beauty of that last flame, dreary skies and colder days makes the gift of the rose more precious.
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Lovely swoop – turning that detailed reality into a metaphor for relationships. It’s really lovely.
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Flowers that continue to bloom as winter fast approaches are a glorious thing! I was delighted to return from vacation on Sunday to find my lantana still blooming. I love your picture of this last rose of summer and the little cherub reading in the background, and your lovely words to accompany it.
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A perfectly gorgeous flame of last rose (and a romantic touch)!
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What a beautiful flower for your inspiration. Lovely.
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“but then…” always happens, even though the wait can be so long and cold.
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So much to say here…love the photo and the unusual color of the rose.
Love especially the second stanza. And mostly, the ending — the touch of someone special can bring warmth to a long-cold heart, or a hand that’s been alone and chilled for some time.
Beautiful!
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awwww. that last line melts my heart. geez. the stark contrast of the cold beginning and the warming ending is a delight, Ms. Victoria. ❤
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What a beautiful color of rose, Victoria. I can see why it would appear as a sparking flame with the gray background…lovely poem.
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“shedding warmth
on this cold scene
(so like your touch)”
~ooh! I love this. ❤ And I have to say that rose is gorgeous and so is that reading statue behind which caught my eye.
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truly “the last rose of summer.”
The tenacity of wanting to survive is just fantastic. It knows no bounds given half a chance!
Hank
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Great touch with the parentheses!
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I like the imagery you painted in this piece and how it tied into romance at the end. Well done.
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I like the depth of this, the layers of seasons and romance and the appreciation for this lovely rose.
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Defiant bloom rages into the dying spark of warmth.
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A wonderful quadrille and photograph and the warmth of ‘just like your touch’ is so moving.
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Love the turn to the warmth from cold season Victoria ~ And that photo captures the stunning color of the flower~
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Well done!
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I liked the idea that a touch could be like the sparkling of a flame.
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Oh, such longing and then the warmth of the spark, the touch.
Just super!
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This is soo beautiful Victoria 😀 I love the comparison of spark to that of warmth, a beloved’s touch ❤️ Beautifully rendered.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
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I love the way the melancholy of the first two stanzas is broken by the ‘…vibrant flash
an incongruous spark-
ing of a flame’.
and the ending is surprising and tender.
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Oh wow. What a powerful ending.
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Gorgeous rose! Beautiful words.
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I adore how a poet just looks out the window, or walks the dog through the garden, & poems emerge like this /last rose of summer/. I’ve been at the ocean the last few days, clicking driftwood images, & hoarding negative ions for later creativity.
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The parenthesis in the end gives the sparkle double meaning… wonderful… it’s like adding just a bit of kerosene on a fire I think
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Sky heavy with Paynes grey clouds…..yes, I know that sky!
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I SO love that pithy parens at the end, Victoria. Gorgeous.
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