Summer

Poems about Roses, Life & Death

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Poems about Roses, Life & Death

Vase_and_rose_02Sonnengelb

Im sonnengelben Tüllgewand
mit rosarotem Rüschenrand
schwankt sie im satten Bühnenlicht
von Gleichgewicht zu Gleichgewicht:
die königliche Tänzerin,
die Rose namens Harlekin!

Sunny Yellow

Dressed in sunny yellow gauze
hemmed with ruffs like rosy haze,
perfect poise in every pose,
in the lime-light there she sways,
dancing-girl of regal grace:
Harlequin, the motley rose!

Photograph: Christina Egan © 2013  –  Texts: Christina Egan © 2015

—

          The Giant Rose

Gdn_RoseRed_2009June

The giant rose, pale yellow, slightly flushed,
still opens and expands and grows more lush
            with every breath.
Yet its intoxicating scent deceives:
for through her delicate and ample leaves
            runs silent death.

Photograph: Christina Egan © 2009  –  Text: Christina Egan © 2013

—

Crimson silk

A cushion of crimson silk
and swelling still,

a mouth of countless lips,
of soundless words,

the red rose
stands

releasing its heavy scent
like crimson streamers, crimson streams,

until I feel it on my tongue
like ivory-coloured marzipan!

Christina Egan © 2015

—

Gelbe Rose

In Sonnengelb und Aprikose
reckt sich die prallgefüllte Rose
in ihrem reifsten Augenblick,
als eine Frau – in gelb gekleidet,
mit goldnem Haar – vorüberschreitet
mit schwebendem und festem Schritt.

Die Rose weiß noch nichts vom Welken,
entfaltet sich im hohen gelben,
vermeintlich abendlosen Licht…
Die Frau schaut lange, hält den Atem
in jenem festtagsbunten Garten,
wo ihre Jugend jetzt zerbricht.

Christina Egan © 2011

—

Sonnengelb and Sunny Yellow  are parallel creations. The flower in the vase and the flower in the painting looked exactly the same — in their striking shapes and colours as well as in size and maturity…  

Gelbe Rose (Yellow rose) compares a rose in shades of apricot and sunflower and a woman with similar clothes and blond hair. The flower, at the height of her life, does not know that age and death are about to strike; but the woman does.

You will find more roses in the sonnet Der letzte Tag des Sommers ist gekommen.

Auf den Höhen der Rhön

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Auf den Höhen der Rhön
(Juli-Haiku)

*

Mit blauen Blumen
bestickt, bläht sich das goldne Korn,
ein Tanzgewand.

*

Auf dem Kiefernduft
gleitet der Habicht dahin
hoch über den Höhn.

*

Die Kuppen im Dunst,
ein perlgrauer Scherenschnitt
vorm Silberhimmel.

*

Im kupfernen Laub
ganze Quader von Jade:
bemooste Felsen.

*

Christina Egan © 2003

—

The Rhön Mountains, part of the Central Uplands of Germany, stand out through their wild and austere beauty. – This series of haiku has just been published in the photo calendar Rhönkalender 2016.

English speakers: This text, titled On the heights of the Rhön, works quite well in a translation software. You can also see two wonderful panoramas of the mountains at the link to the calendar and some more on Wikipedia.

Silhouette of low silver-blue mountain range against silver-blue sky, just like in the poem.

Photograph: “Kegelspiel” by N8mahl at the German language Wikipedia.

Midsummernight Far North

~ Christina Egan ~ Leave a comment

Midsummernight Far North
(Darss)

This is the edge of the land.
The number of signals is seven:
The shimmering sand,
the green in the sea,
the red in the sky,
the crescent and star,
the bonfire’s glint,
the lighthouse’s fan,
the flashing afar —

The number of wonders is seven.
This is the midsummernight,
this is the height of the light,
this is the hem of the heavens.

We are alive.
We are together.
This is all here.
This is forever.

Christina Egan © 2015

—

The Darß (Darss) is a  tranquil strip of land between some lakes and the Baltic Sea.
Around summer solstice, dusk is only between ten and eleven (summertime). 
A German poem about dusk on the Darss is ostseeschlaflied (Baltic Sea Lullaby).