Beach Rose

One of the first things I did when we bought the bungalow next door
and turned it into my studio was to transplant a Vineyard Rugosa
along the fence at the entrance to the backyard.

It was a tiny little thing back then
which had been rescued from the edge of the bluff.

The rest of which
the bluff that is
has long since been washed away
and returned to sea.

The rugosa is now taller than myself
and is the very first rose to bloom each spring.

There is nothing, positively nothing,
that can take me back to the island faster
than to smell those roses.

And, after a winter of holing up as a hermit at my easel
when the first warm day allows it
I throw open the windows and take a deep breath
find the scent of the beach roses
and sail towards their promise of an ocean breeze.