This Rose

This Rose is like our friendship,

which has withered by and by

Once it bloomed a loving beauty,

now it lays here brown and dry

This rose is how I thought of you

a rare treasure I could see

Now I look upon this rose

and I find not you nor me

This rose, the one I speak of,

was not love, nor was it lust

But instead it was our friendship

nurtured by respect and trust

This rose you once picked for me

is but now a token gift

For the love I revealed alarmed you

and I now can't heal that rift

This rose has died quite quickly

though I tried to make it last

It seems you can't cheat fate

or keep the future in the past

This rose now has no scent

its perfume, like you, has gone

And though I'd dearly have it back again

I can't regret what life has done

This rose I meant to keep aside

to help me remember you

But this rose is just a sad reminder

of a love that wasn't true

This rose was once so beautiful

but its life has dried away

And my thoughts of you go with it

there is nothing more to say.

15th August 1995

For the beautiful people that have been in my life.