Red Folds

39x24 watercolour painting as a response to the poem

No Wonder – Doug Walbourne-Gough

Spring, verdant lust reawakened
after months of bare-branched impotence.
Buds begin to swell, their winter-long
secrets ready to burst. All this thick-lush
life seeks outlet.

Tulips penetrate topsoil, stamens get ready
to rumble with bumble bees, forget-me-nots
waiting to be groped in groups as dandelions
push their yellow tushes in the air.

All this subtle sex, buzzing through
backyards and public parks, no wonder
my nostrils flare when I stare into the soft
red folds of a rose.