The Birth of the Rose Flower
By Yacine Barry
A poem about two people who are separated due to circumstances that are beyond their control. Do you think they will end up together?
Hello, Fifth of January! Happy birthday to my Rose flower, my fragile and gentle Rose, blooming from a deep stone of coldness, my heart, into this warm universe I have never felt this happy January Fifth gave birth to a Rose flower Do you remember what Day it is today? Our text messages change From the formal vous to the informal tu A bad decision, a good memory Your omg emoji makes me worried Your love emoji makes me smile Your like emoji makes me want to send more When I text you, my heart yearns for your reply, pauses in anticipation, I can’t wait for notifications So I chose to stare at your “...” looking for an answer. My eyes go dry cuz I can’t close them Where is your youthful voice now? Our memory will never fade If it happens, I am willing to swim the Atlantic Ocean to stop it from drowning The Rose in my heart wanders in a hypnotic dream, I can’t really face my feelings I can’t even see your face I can’t help missing the past I can’t wake up Because our future only exists in my dream. Was it love? Or might it be anti-loneliness? Is our friendship pure or artificial? Is my Rose red? A rosebud? Or a thornless red rose? Do you think it was the Yellow rose? How do you identify it? Cuz , to me, it is and always will be a Red rose. Why this end? Can I blame fate? Am I the only one wandering in old dreams? Where can I find you? I have spent months waiting. What’s in my heart is what I can’t get over. For a single glance at a message from you I wouldn’t regret nurturing my Rose alone Even if you aren’t included The fact The Rose exists is most important How lucky am I to have you in my life history? Happy birthday to our Rose Flower and Happy birthday to you as well.
Girls Write Now On the Other Side of Everything: The 2023 Anthology
Do you know what it’s like to communicate with your family across a salty ocean’s divide? Do you want the sun and moon to enter your home with stories written in embers? Do you seek voices that will punctuate the darkness? Welcome to the other side of everything. It’s the other side of silence, the other side of childhood, the other side of hate, the other side of indifference, it’s the other side of sides, where the binary breaks down. It’s a new paradigm, a destination, a different perspective, a mindset, a state of openness, the space between the endless folds in your forehead, hopes for tomorrow, and reflections on the past. This anthology of diverse voices is an everything bagel of literary genres and love songs, secrets whispered in the dark of night, conversations held with ancestors under the sea.
Process
I worked on this poem for about a month and with a lot of editing and brainstorming.
Yacine Barry
Yacine Barry came to the United States three years ago from Guinea and is now a high school senior. Yacine has always loved writing and has been journaling for a long time. She does stand-up comedy with a troupe called Stand Up Girls. She is currently starting a journalism club at her high school. She is a serious person but can also be funny. She loves discovering new things and is considering studying nursing or computer science in college. She looks younger than her age but is far more mature!
