I sent you a bouquet of words,
But you wanted flowers.

I promise they will outgrow any bud,
Into the tallest of towers.

love is a bouquet
filled with the bloom's embrace
of scented flowers

be not content with one flower of truth—gather ever truth’s bouquet





© 2020 Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

I chiseled out your initials

Into rose petals

And heads of dainty daisies

Filter memories

Into the smooth curve

Of marbles, clinking

Into the bottom

Of the vase, rearrange

The vowels of your name

Into the most beautiful bouquet

And I find myself humming

To the thought of your smile

And it is quite darling

Looking at you, ten minutes or more
As you did look, let out vacant stares.
I tried not much, just stood my ground
In such intricacies, love; I disappeared
How elegant you seem, without trying
Too much; the red in lips, awestruck !
The hair in a bun, in an all perfect black
Apparition of your being, it is flawless.
Dear, I am smitten in such hues you don
The reds and blacks and whites and on,
The due in dots, and cells eloping out.
Imagery adding _ layers to your form
Who then, be, creator to your frame ?
A bold tryst in stolid magnificence !
Who then, birthed such countenance,
In contemplation, I just wither away.
For a moment now, for a moment till
Let me just bask, let my soul fill
And in beauty, won't it, I consume.
Refuel my heart, for the dry dunes.
Let me just stare, as you do stare
In art that brings you, alive today.
Let me just stand, deep in thought
And offer you a thoughtful bouquet.

They say love is a toxic bouquet,
A beautiful gift hides its decay.
Give them a slice of your heart,
They become sickened and die.
Love tears us apart,
Love bleeds us dry.
To lose all we cherish,
All great things perish.

Suffer for your precious display,
Squandered in hopeless dismay,
Selfish love is a toxic bouquet.

They say love is a toxic bouquet,
A beautiful gift hides its decay.
The petals leave a dark residue,
The remedy is so long overdue.
Loud feelings are slow to action,
Love takes but does not ration.
Once lovely, now out of fashion,
A rolling trend of passing passion.

Suffer for your precious display,
Squandered in hopeless dismay,
Selfish love is a toxic bouquet.

They say love is a toxic bouquet,
A beautiful gift hides its decay.
You don’t know the pain you cause,
The grief will put your life on pause.
Sweet nectar is toxic to swallow,
Love leaves the widows to wallow,
Love leads the sinners to sorrow,
A trail of ruin is hard to follow.