So Black A Rose
Digital
13/06/2006
A poem I had published back in 1997, but was in fact first conceived some eight years earlier; the poem itself won the editors choice award and was published in the book Awaken To A Dream by The International Library of Poetry.
Inspiration for the piece came from several outlets, at the time I was studying the ‘Wars of the Roses’ and the life of the ‘Black Prince’ and in 1989 I had just completed my training to become an Archery Instructor; A solitary Black rose became the gift from a lady friend at the time – and the poem arose from all the thoughts and feelings that were prevalent - I like to think that for a brief moment in time I had briefly entered into a period of history that was so far removed from my own.
So Black A Rose
So black a Rose that I have slain
Who now amongst his thorns I've lain
Whose poison seeped beneath my veins
On battlefield I now lay dead
And open wounds spew forth their red
A Rose through crimson flood
And in this field, where once I stood
Amidst this soil so stained with blood
A whiter Rose than any fleece
Shall echo now the words of peace.
© 1989 David Sankey
The desaturation and additional postwork – myself, Photoshop 7.