By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2024

First published in Front Porch Review (January, 2024)

preserving the beauty
of a freshly plucked rose —
cooling it in latticed shade
pouring through the window,
that its peach-pink petals
might, for a moment, linger
beneath pastel palette
of an artist’s brush-stroked gaze,
its essence imprinted
upon his eyes, his mind, his soul…
before bestowed to us
to cherish in its splendor ‒
unwilted and refreshed