
   ͸ ͸ ͸ ͸        ͸ ͸ ͸  ͸ ͸    ͸
   ;    ͸             ͸     Ѿ    ;           
       ; ;             ; ;             ;   
  


                   The Black Rose
                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Did you look into the face of the old black rose
   When you thought you'd rather die?
  Did you see something there you didn't have
   Something that made you cry
  For the strength to go on through the dullest day
   And the fight to stand proud in the light.

  Did you gaze into the heart of the old black rose
   When you knew you'd seen it before
  Did you feel something there that you'd lost somehow
   Something a part of your core
  Ripped and torn by the winds of fate from a center
   Gone cold in the glare of pain.

  Did you know yourself there in the old black rose
   But for the chance roll of the dice?
  Did you find something there that you needed to love
   Something that shattered the ice
  Of ignorance passed back and forth through the lines
   Of color and gender and time.

  Did you leave something there with the old black rose
   Something you needed to give
  Did you pass through the life of eternity's child
   Did you let her teach you to live
  In a world filled with scattered lovers and friends
   And children who prey on your mind.

  Then there on the lips of the old black rose
   Rides a smile you wish you could touch
  And there in the eyes of woman ill used
   An old woman who gave you so much
  Of yourself while you rocked on the porch and heard
   The hope of 'just one more visit'.

                            (for Rose Meeks)

                            - Gay Bost

