POETRY Reading: Roses In Traffic, by Kewayne Wadley

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

Whether you pretend to see me,
or you actually do
eventually, eyes betray
and look at what they really want.

In an attempt to know myself,
I know you.
What it means to know beauty.
To find a moment you hope lasts forever.
A smile that forgets how fragile
we really are,
and forgets how long it’s supposed to last.

How fast eyes can swell with tears,
and how ashamed we can be
to not let anyone see or know.

Knowing these truths
is to admit that everyone gets tired.

I extend these roses to you.
Each rose a release
that loosens the weight in our chest
not to interrupt your routine,
or even stop you from where you’re going,
but a pause to remember that we are human.

That in this escape,
it’s quite possible
you need these more than I do.
To ease the dirt that’s rested under your nails
from a long day of work.
To be the pause that stops and thinks
of something other than self.

The only peaceful thing we know
that dies with dignity.

But before it wilts
and bleeds in silence,
it’s filled with water
and planted in a vase
and remembers.
As one of the only things
That made you smile