Day 5: Ekphrasis (a literary device in which a text responds to or describes another work of art): Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Go to flickr.com/explore and write a post inspired by the image. Can you link it to your health focus? Don’t forget to post the image!

Photo courtesy of valstar2011

Every rose has its thorn
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
Every rose has its thorn
Yeah it does

Ekphrasis or ecphrasis is the graphic, often dramatic, description of a visual work of art. In ancient times it referred to a description of any thing, person, or experience. The word comes from the Greek ek and phrasis, 'out' and 'speak' respectively, verb ekphrazein, to proclaim or call an inanimate object by name.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekphrasis

So I went to the flickr site mentioned in the writing prompt above, and decided to use the date 5/12/11 (Fibromyalgia Awareness Day) to use the Explore Interesting Stuff feature to check out interesting content that was posted to Flickr on that day.  This photo of the rose with barbed wire reminded me of the song Evey Rose Has Its Thorn originally by Poison in 1988.  In fact I couldn't get the song out of my head so I chose this photo to write about in spite of the fact that there were lots of other great photos featured on that day.

Although the song is about a love gone wrong story, it's easy for me to relate both the photo and the song to the ICI experience.  My life is the rose and chronic illnesses are the thorns.  The barbed wire in the picture is symbolic of people and things who try to hold me back from reaching my true potential in spite of CI.

BTW, Brett Michaels was the lead singer for Poison and he's a rock and roll star who lives with diabetes.  Also, this song came out the year before I was diagnosed with the first three CIs:  endometriosis, fibromyalgia and food allergies.  Seems like such a long time ago.  I'm essentially the same person now that I was then... but damn I could dance a lot better then.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison, Unplugged 1990

LYRICS

We both lie silently still
in the dead of the night
Although we both lie close together
We feel miles apart inside

Was it something I said or something I did
Did my words not come out right
Though I tried not to hurt you
Though I tried
But I guess that's why they say

Chorus:
Every rose has its thorn
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings his sad, sad song
Every rose has its thorn
Yeah it does

I listen to our favorite song
playing on the radio
Hear the DJ say loves a game
of easy come and easy go
But I wonder does he know
Has he ever felt like this
And I know you'd be here right now
If I could have let you know somehow
I guess

Chorus

Though it's been a while now
I can still feel so much pain
Like a knife that cuts you the wound heals
but the scar, that scar remains

I know I could have saved our love that night
If I'd known what to say
Instead of makin' love
We both made our separate ways
But now I hear you found somebody new
and that I never meant that much to you
To hear that tears me up inside
And to see you cuts me like a knife
I guess

Chorus