Ghost Flowers

Ghost flowers bloom
in the ink-blue hour,
before the earth awakens,

​when the world holds its breath
and the first stir of sun
has not yet touched the hills.

​This is where I seek you--
the ghost of you among gentians,

​each petal alive with memory:
your smile folded into soft blue,
the curve of your hand in mine,
a stroke of quiet purpose
tracing the shapes of us,

​moments we once shared
echoing in color and scent.

​Petals trembling,
whispers caught in the deep folds,
each a ghost of what was--

​a presence that pulses through me,
felt in every breath,
in every intentional line.

​A quiet pulse lingers there,
deep blue as fresh ink,
a phantom script unfolding
over the halls you left behind.

​The faint fragrance clings to the mist--
proof that your presence
was ever meant to last.

​Their glow is fragile,
a pulse in the dark,
a lantern carried by invisible hands,
folding into the quiet
of my own longing.

​I kneel among them,
fingers brushing the air
where petals live,

​and feel something unseen:
hope, sorrow, you--
all rising together
like the first breath of day.

​I rise, knowing the gentian’s ghost
is the silent promise
of a love made visible only here,

​where the deepest, truest blue
is the memory made ink.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

Gentian blue, flowers that can grow in harsh alpine conditions. They evoke sadness, love and grief, but they also symbolize hope and the ability to overcome adversity.

ghost flowers bloom
in the ink blue hour
before the earth awakens

This love still lingers , as does the ink of memory in poems built. So beautiful Roma. Your poetry speaks volumes and bleeds emotion.

Chris

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Chris. Your words touch me deeply. I love how you captured the gentian’s duality..its fragility and resilience..just as I hoped the poem might.

I’m glad the memory and emotion in the lines resonated with you.

Your thoughtful reading makes sharing it feel all the more meaningful.

[Coyote Poetry]

Beautiful movement of thoughts dear Roma.
"​where the deepest, truest blue
is the memory made ink."
I liked the above lines a lot. Thank you, dear poet for sharing the amazing poetry.
Coyote

[RomaJ]

Thank you, dear Coyote. I’m so glad that line spoke to you. As writers, sometimes all we have to hold on to is our pens.. to keep writing until the memory we love becomes ink, turning tangible, alive again. I’ve always felt there’s something quietly sacred in that transformation. I truly appreciate your kind words and presence here.
..Roma

[Thomas W Case]

Beautiful work. Powerful and sharp.

[RomaJ]

Thank you, Thomas. I deeply appreciate your kind words. It means a lot to know that the poem’s quiet presence and its subtle pulse came through for you. Your reflection honors it beautifully.

[.]

My god! This is so vivid and explains every part of this feeling! So detailed with great way of using words. I love the poems that feels like you just sat and opened your heart and show to the reader, with this poem this is exactly what i can feel… blowed my mind

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Beren. I’m deeply touched that the poem reached you so vividly. Writing Ghost Flowers was indeed an act of opening the heart, and it means the world to know that you could feel that honesty and presence. Your words honor the intention behind it beautifully.

[Neville]

This is an incredibly well crafted poem Roma and really quite beautiful on so many levels .. You are a credit to this art we both so clearly love deeply .. Neville 😎🌻💛👍

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Neville. Your words mean a great deal. I’m truly touched by your generosity and kindness, and it’s always a joy to share this space with fellow lovers of the art. 🌻💛

[Neville]

My absolute pleasure .. Neville 😎👍

[red93]

We are almost into DH Lawrence territory here Roma - he loved Gentians also. They have links with the underworld in Lawrence's Poetry, and indeed with your Excellent Ghost Flowers, we are treading a similar path. Exceptional ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, red. I’m deeply honored by your comparison to DH Lawrence .. his poetry has always resonated with me, and the connection to gentians and the underworld feels beautifully apt. I’m thrilled that Ghost Flowers could tread a similar path. Your words truly mean a lot. ✨️

[red93]

✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[John the Baptist]

Loss hovers about this offering, not the loss of a romantic breakup, but that of the great thief, death. The speaker addresses the lost lover in terms of finality, with no hope of future reunion. Even the surrounding flowers as referred to as "ghost flowers."Yet she feels a connection here that is lacking in other places. I think she will be returning often

[RomaJ]

Thank you, John. I truly appreciate your insight and the care with which you read Ghost Flowers. You’ve captured the tension between loss and lingering connection beautifully. It means a lot to hear that the speaker’s presence resonates and might call the reader back again.

[ShadesofV]

Roma, this is stunning! ​I absolutely love the central metaphor of the "gentian's ghost." The way the speaker connects the intense, rare blue of the gentian flower with the "ink-blue hour" and the idea of a "phantom script" is so powerful. It suggests that this profound blue is the only color deep and true enough to hold the lasting memory of the loved one. It’s a beautiful affirmation that even a loss can leave behind a vibrant, purposeful presence that continues to be written into the world.

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much for this beautiful reading. You captured the heart of the poem perfectly..the gentian’s blue as both memory and presence, something that endures beyond loss. I’m so touched by your insight into the “phantom script,” and how you described it as being written into the world. That was exactly the feeling I hoped to evoke

[ShadesofV]

You're welcome, my dear

[Desert Knave]

The visual elements of the ghost flowers before the dawn are striking and it is easy to envision you among the petals. ~Jim

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Jim. I’m really glad the imagery resonated with you. The idea of being among the petals before dawn feels like the quiet heart of this piece, so it means a lot that you felt it too. I appreciate your thoughtful reading and kind words.

[Jansy]

RomaJ, this poem is breathtaking. The way you paint the world in shades of deep, ink-blue.

The gentian flowers, the quiet bloom of memory, it feels like stepping into a dream where every petal carries a heartbeat.

I could almost feel the ghostly presence of what once was, delicate and luminous, folding around me like a soft, endless morning.

The imagery lingers, and the blue… it stays with me, like the quiet pulse of something both fragile and eternal.

Truly beautiful.
With warm light,
James.

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, James. Your words are as lovely and luminous as always, and I’m truly touched by how the blue and the gentians lingered with you.

I have to admit, I half-expected a cosmic pizza planet or a deep reflection on your cat to sneak in there somewhere, but this dreamlike reading is just as wonderful.

I was also thoroughly amused reading your about me and your long comments on your poem, The Magician..you’re very funny, and I love your imagination and absurdist humor.

You have me smiling every time I read your comments. Honestly, you might as well post them as short stories..they’re brilliant.

[Jansy]

Roma, reading your *Ghost Flowers* felt like wandering through a dream stitched in shades of ink-blue. Admiral Whiskers, who today identifies as he, sat beside me, nodding with the solemn air of a retired philosopher who also moonlights as an undercover agent for the local bird council. I think he approved, though it’s hard to tell with critics who shed.

Your gentians feel like memory’s own handwriting. There’s a quiet ache in your words that lingers, like light folding itself around a name you can’t quite forget. It’s a masterful geometry, bending around the heart in ways physics can only pretend to understand.

I’m delighted my nonsensical rants resonate with you. My cat enjoys them too, though she frequently interrupts with loud existential commentary, usually about the ethics of dust bunnies and the geopolitical ambitions of the mail carrier.

If you’re referring to the comment from another writer about “my brain,” yes, that one took quite a turn. It seemed like a sincere inquiry into my cerebral welfare, though rest assured my brain is functioning at a remarkably high level of absurd creativity. It’s currently capable of calculating the trajectory of rogue pigeons, pondering the quantum properties of spaghetti, and critiquing my own life choices without permanent damage. I’ve found that responding with long, detailed monologues about how gravity is simply the universe’s way of giving hugs is an excellent way to preserve mental equilibrium and gently usher skeptics toward the nearest exit.

What’s even rarer, and infinitely more delightful, is discovering someone on your wavelength. Someone I can talk with about everything and nothing until we lose track of time, fall asleep mid-thought, or realize the phone battery has died while explaining how clouds are sentient cotton conspirators plotting shadows for passing birds. That kind of connection, that graceful dance between profundity and delightful absurdity, feels like a geographically romantic coordinate. And I can’t help but imagine you laughing on the other end, matching my ridiculousness with your own brilliant, luminous imagination.

In short, Roma, your words linger like the scent of something impossibly rare and sweet. I would gladly wander that dream with you for hours, discussing impossible physics, anthropomorphic dust bunnies, and the way my cat changes pronouns depending on the moon. My brain is intact, my curiosity intact, my mischief fully operational, and now I feel inspired to see if your imagination can keep up with mine....challenge gladly accepted.

With ink-blue admiration, mischievous chaos, and slightly flirtatious respect for the local squirrel council, James/Jansy

[RomaJ]

James, you’ve outdone yourself..again. I don’t know whether to applaud, giggle, or send Admiral Whiskers an honorary doctorate in existential philosophy. I almost want to apologize for ruining such a beautiful comment with a reply. Thank you, Jansy

[Jansy]

My pleasure, Ro.

[Soren]

This is a most lovely poem with an air of melancholy and like a ghost it floats in the air. The use of color is helpful in casting the mood. Blue what better color for the mood. The poem is light and airy but at the same time casts a mist to the past. It is such a wonderful piece of art due to the emotion it evokes.

[RomaJ]

Thank you so much, Soren. I’m really touched by your words. I’m glad the blue and the sense of memory came through the way I hoped..they’re such central parts of the feeling I wanted to capture. Your thoughtful reading makes sharing the poem feel even more meaningful.

[Soren]

Always my pleasure