A rose, by any other name .....

My FB and photographer friend  Anand Amembal  posted a profusion of rose photographs, after a trip to the Maharashtra Nature Park in Dharavi, Mumbai.

This particular photograph , has a dark background (achieved by adjusting the aperture and shutter speed), although the photo has been clicked in a garden during daytime, possibly noon !

And this had something to do with a sense of starkness and sharpness of the rose that came through, reminding me of someone , who once bloomed with great hope for us in the country, but now prefers a dignified silence, surrounded , by what some might say, is dark times. 

Those who read the front page of newspapers as opposed to Page 3 and sports pages , may know what I am talking about .....

(photo by Anand Amembal)

Once,
facing up,
fresh into the sunlight
bringing new hope
on a new day,
in a garden
filled
with opportunistic weeds,
he stands now,
old ,
and tired
of what he sees,
his
wiry young
z-plus security
alert
and
surrounding him....

Petals
lost in strength,
and color,
a few
curled in disgust,
he stands,
doubting all those
green in envy
crowding around,
and relaizes,
how difficult it is
to be
the
Head flower
in a chaotic garden....