Guelder Rose

Guelder Rose (artist unknown)

GUELDER ROSE

Los Angeles went by quickly

Only odd parts of it stick in my mind

Quiltcover parking lots

and the Guelder roses on the north side

which Proust describes as

White as annunciating angels

and breathing a fragrance of lemons

What remains is partial but real

stubborn as those Dutch still lives

It has a berry

used only in Siberia for making wine

Should your extremities grow numb

this is the flower for you

I thought of this often

in those real streets

with the too real traffic 

***

I've had this -  a very nice letterpress illustration accompanied by the above poem - for a long time but have never been able to find out the name of the author/artist. Alas, in this instance, Google has not been my friend. Below, a photo of the original piece:

Guelder Rose, Art & Poem (artist unknown)