Forcing Roses
by Ranney Campbell

tent and keep clement
cover, secure,

and wait

bathe in warm water

give a sharp cut

set aside
in a vase

upon your return, blow
into the closed
bud

reflex and pull
and pour
your heated water
into her

let gravity
spread petals

untouched by your hand

then quickly upend her
let drain
to ready

run your fingers
between the folds into crevices
and gently
push
through
tips tracing
the ruffles
circling open

A version of this poem was originally published by The Main Street Rag.

PAINTING:Roses by Vincent van Gogh (1890).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ranney Campbell earned an MFA in fiction from the University of Missouri at St. Louis and lives in Southern California. Her poetry has been published by Misfit Magazine, Shark Reef and others, and is forthcoming in the Rat’s Ass Review and Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. Her chapbook, Pimp…