There are love poems written in the ease of new romance, in candlelight and certainty, when the future feels guaranteed, and the hardest thing about loving someone is finding the right words to say how much. And then there are love poems born somewhere harder. In the particular quiet of a room where the diagnosis has already been read aloud, and the world has already changed. Where love stops being a feeling and becomes a decision you make every morning before you open your eyes. Mike D Poet’s Yellow Rose Petals lives in that second place. It is the most important kind of poem there is.
This was not written in reflection. It was not crafted with the clean distance of hindsight. Not the weight of sadness performed for an audience, but the real, specific weight of a man who looked at the person he loves most in the world and reached for the only thing he had that was entirely his to give: language. That is what poets do when everything else falls short. They write. And Mike D wrote something extraordinary.
The yellow rose petals are not an accident of a title. It has always carried the symbolism of loyalty, healing, and enduring friendship, softer than the red rose, quieter than grand gestures, but built to last. He did not choose the rose of passion. He chose the rose of presence. The rose that says: I am here. I am not going anywhere. I will still be here when this is over. That is what this poem is. That is what his wife deserved to hear.
What takes this project from powerful to truly extraordinary is the visual EP, and it deserves to be spoken about at full volume. Produced in collaboration with Poetic Stories, Mike D Joseph, Sound Lab Studios, and Nella Writes, and brought to life by Endless Films, this is one of the most charismatic, beautifully composed spoken word visuals we have seen come through lately. Full stop.
The visual is not just a backdrop for the poem, it is a world built around it. The mood is established in the opening moments and holds all the way through, creating that rare atmosphere where you forget you are watching something produced and feel instead like you have wandered into something real. The scenes are intimate without being claustrophobic, cinematic without being cold. There is warmth here. There is light used with real intention. There is a visual language that speaks the same emotional dialect as Mike D’s words.
The centrepiece of the visual is a scene that will stay with you: a group of people, gathered together, completely and genuinely held by Mike D Poet’s words. Not politely attentive. Not performing engagement for the camera. Intrigued. Leaning in. Present in that specific way that only happens when someone is saying something true. That scene is the whole thesis of the visual EP in one image: poetry as a communal experience, as the thing that happens when one person is brave enough to say out loud what everyone else is only feeling.
And moving through it all, anchoring the entire project in a way that no casting choice could replicate. Shellzwithaz, Mike D’s beautiful wife, fulfilled the role perfectly. Her presence in this visual is not decorative. It is essential. Every word in Yellow Rose Petals was written for her, in her direction, out of love for her specific person. Seeing her on screen alongside the performance closes a loop that makes the whole piece land with a weight and intimacy that very few projects ever achieve. This is a love story being told to the person it belongs to, in public, without armour. That takes a specific kind of courage from both of them, and we are grateful for it. Endless Films absolutely ripped this one! Every single department showed up.
Director K. Elisa Garcia is felt in every choice, every cut, every hold, every moment where the camera decides to stay with something instead of moving on. Great direction on a project like this is not about imposing a style. It is about trust. Trusting the material. Trusting the subject. Knowing when to step back and let the performance breathe and when to move in close enough that the audience has no choice but to feel it. Garcia made every one of those calls with precision and confidence, and the result is a visual that feels guided rather than controlled, and it was led by someone who genuinely cared about getting this right. The actual EP itself will be released on May 20th, 2026, so stay tuned!
The cinematography by Mike Canale is where this visual truly announces itself as something special. This is not serviceable camera work filling a function; this is cinematography that earns its place in the conversation about what spoken word visuals can look like. Canale’s work is warm, textured, and deeply considered throughout. The way light falls on the people gathered in the room. The way Mike D Poet is framed during performance versus the quieter moments. The visual relationship between the poet and his wife on screen. None of it happens by accident. All of it reflects a cinematographer who understood the emotional architecture of this project before he ever picked up a camera.
Mallory McAninch, as Gaffer, was the one who translated that vision into physical light on set, and great gaffer work is, in the best way, invisible. You do not think about the lighting when you are watching. You just feel it. The warmth of the intimate scenes. The softness around the moments between Mike D and his wife. The way the gathered crowd feels real and present rather than staged. That is Mallory McAninch’s work, and this visual’s emotional resonance owes a real debt to how the light was handled from start to finish. On grip, Nia Arsenault and Tyrron Pierce were the physical foundation the entire production stood on. Grip work is infrastructure: the rigging, the support systems, the ability to move and adjust without disrupting the creative flow on set. Having grips who can execute without hesitation means the cinematographer never has to compromise their vision in the moment. Arsenault and Pierce made sure no compromises were necessary, and the smoothness of the visual reflects that completely.
The wardrobe by Bizzy Dorvil is one of those production elements that reveals its depth on a second watch. Wardrobe in a visual like this is not about fashion; it is about authenticity. Mike wore a fashionable brown and white jacket with his stylish brown pants. Mike came dressed to impress. Dorvil styled this production in a way that reinforces the intimacy and realness of the entire project. Nothing pulls you out of the moment. Everything serves the world Mike D Poet created with his words.
And then there is the score. Neezy Beatz handled music design and score for this project, and the result deserves a standing ovation on its own. The score underneath Yellow Rose Petals is not background music. It is architecture. It shapes how you receive every word Mike D Poet delivers, giving his voice room to land, giving the emotional moments space to expand, and holding the entire visual together from first note to last frame.
The relationship between spoken word and score is one of the most delicate balancing acts in production. Too much music drowns the poet. Too little and the piece loses its emotional lift. Neezy Beatz found that exact balance. The score is felt more than heard, which is exactly what great scoring does.
Production Credits: Endless Films
Director: K. Elisa Garcia
Cinematographer: Mike Canale
Gaffer: Mallory McAninch
Grips: Nia Arsenault, Tyrron Pierce
Wardrobe: Bizzy Dorvil
Music Design & Score: Neezy Beatz
Featuring: shellzwithaz
Produced By: Mike D Joseph – Sound Lab Studios – Nella Writes
In Partnership With: Poetic Stories