Josephine's Roses

Patient until she wasn't,
Josephine cultivated roses,
lovers, her husband, other
exotic creatures, and her own
Chateau de Malmaison, ugly
duckling until it wasn't, until
it shone, elegant as her gazelles,
black swans, antelopes, peacocks,
acacia, eucalyptus, moonlight,
portrait of luxe, le gout raffiné,
reflected love of an Empress,
the steely reach of her Emperor,
rose fragrance on all sides,
canopied boudoir irresistible,
storm clouds gathering there,
lonely island, a distant mirage,
Napoleon a brilliant conqueror
until he wasn't.

ξ

Helen Marie Casey’s chapbooks include Fragrance Upon His Lips and Inconsiderate Madness, a finalist for the Julia Ward Howe Award of the Boston Authors’ Club. Her poetry chapbook, Zero Degrees, has just been released by Finishing Line Press. She won the 14th National Poet Hunt of The MacGuffin and the Frank O'Hara Prize from the Worcester Review in 2014. Her work appears in several poetry journals including The Laurel Review, Louisiana Literature, CT Review, Paterson Literary Review, Prairie Schooner, and The MacGuffin. She is also the author of the biography My Dear Girl: The Art of Florence Hosmer.