Withered Rose
A red rose glistens
In the sunlight
Kissed by the morning rain
Yet....
Such beauty's appeal
Couldn't begin to heal
My wounds of heartache's pain
IF...
That glistening rose
Wore a dazzling mask
Of a love that couldn't die,
But behind that mask
Was a beating heart
Beating a deadly lie.
Give me not the sacred rose
To make my heart love you
If such a rose you give in vain
Knowing it isn't true,
Then waste it not on what is false
For other lovers may find
The key to love they thought was lost
In such a rose sublime.
Light not the candle in my heart
Of love's burning flame
To blow it out
And leave me doubt
Of loving another the same.
Cast me not into the sea;
The waves of love's sweet sound
To leave me there so bitterly
In loneliness to drown.
Give me not such blissful dreams
When I close my eyes to sleep
If when I wake,
My heart you break
And cause my eyes to weep.
Give me not the sacred rose
To make my heart love you
If such a rose you give in vain
Knowing it isn't true.
Tell me no lie of a lasting love;
A blissful love that grows
For blissful love that's just a lie
Is just a withered rose.
T.S. Wilkins
