HELEN TZAGOLOFF

BLACK ROSES

Available this Valentine's Day
black roses, flown in from Holland,
expensive, chic.
Why not black roses?
Black is mystery, tranquility,
a welcome alternative to red—
blood, pain, rage.

When it comes to tradition
the most avant-garde
turn nostalgic.
Better try the novel when
a gift with special meaning
is not expected.
(I was passing by the florist...
there they were ... greatly reduced.)

Unless your message is other than love,
on Valentine's Day stick with red.

Helen's poems have been published in Blueline, New York Quarterly, The MacGuffin, Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry, The Best of the Prose Poem: An International Journal and others. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her chapbook is entitled "Waiting".