The Rose

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a labyrinth,
as if at its center,
god would be there—
but at the center, only rose,
where rose came from, 
where rose grows—
& us, inside of the lips & lips:
the likenesses, the eyes, & the hair,
we are born of,
fed by, & marry with,
only flesh itself, only its passage
—out of where?  to where?

Then god the mother said to Jim, in a dream,
Never mind you, Jim,
come rest again on the country porch of my knees.

© Jean Valentine