1

enter into an existence
that you can't fully understand
and never ever will
and are never satisfied with
holding holy vestiges of memories
you once knew
and fell through
on your way here
a single rose, your life my friend
nexus of what you are
and acting on what you know
will it wilt
who am I to know
or even to tell

2

a single rose, your life my friend
in a garden of lost souls
to touch the rose
and find the light
save your soul from dark
the flower imperiled
the petals falling
save your soul
save the rose
save everything you are
as you hold the flower dear
a thorn does prick your finger
an injury of memory
in time long gone away
heavy step, heavy heart
heavy on the mind

3

caught in acts of misery
shamed in fits of rage
digging graves for demons
with roses in your eyes
rose untended grows strong still
red as blood under sky of blue
forget the devils, remember the world

4

a rose is the most beautiful
most poetic and most pure
though built with thorns to injure
it wounds in right each time
red as blood, some botanical sacrifice
for human thoughts as honor, truth, and love
a rose for love
a rose for us
as a memory for age

5

beams holding up the garden
where we played in younger days
when the roses grew
and all we knew
were the happy things
now the beams have rotted
older times have come down
no more roses
only thorns remain
of that we thought good

6

centuries of roses
so sweet and beautiful
hundreds of years of poetic thought
lost in myself but found again