I need a poem to share from Art SPeaks from last summer for a Nov. 3 reading at Write On. I took a free write of a memory, and crafted this poem. What do you think? Is the last line too “hoky?” sentimenal? I could dorp the last line? in line 3 should I say “a bedroom window” to shorten?

Rugosa Rose

(Art Speaks, The Garden Door June 21, 2024))

Rugosa rose, magenta,

grew tall and full at the outside corner

of my brother’s bedroom window.

and the dining room.

Sun-warmed scent wafted

through the windows at dinnertime.

That rose bush grew as unruly as we kids

who ran free on summer days.

Coiled behind this gangly shrub,

we tugged the green garden hose out to the yard.

One of us squeezed behind those dense prickers

to turn the mini-wheeled faucet wide open.

Thorns caught a shirt, snagged the skin,

a gash of blood trickled down an arm,

soon red-crusted by the sun.

Water on full blast, the hose gushed into our mouths,

a faint taste of rubber with the aroma of rose

in the bloom of our youth.