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ROSE HIPS
By Pilar Quintana

"Just ask the animals, and they will teach you.
Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.”
Job 12:7

Insignificant we are.
In this majestic world
where students throng to learn
the mysteries of life.
In hallowed halls,
and venerable towers.
Insignificant we are.
Who grow by the shadows
of these golden stones.
Never so high will we grow.
Nor do we aspire to such heights.
But we bloom, our delicate red fruit
bears witness to this.
Those who glance out the windows,
contemplating nature from afar,
look beyond us –
insignificant we are.

Pilar Quintana is a poet and an artist. This poem was inspired by an exhibition at the Essex Art Center last fall. During the exhibition, Poet Laureate of North Andover Gayle Heney gave a workshop on ekphrastic poetry (poetry based on or inspired by another art form). Each poet chose a photograph from the exhibition to work from and Pilar chose Eva Timothy’s “Rose Hips.” Pilar is a member of the Grey Court Poets, the Arts Institute Group of the Merrimack Valley, and the multidisciplinary art group 4bstraction. She lives in Methuen.

“Rose Hips, Green Templeton College, Oxford,” a photograph by Eva Timothy. Courtesy photo