For the Sake of a Rose

be in bloom

for the sake of a rose

a history of flowers

in vases and bowls

piled high with potential

and twisting the plot

i won't try to keep 

something i haven't got

​

7 in the evening

by the dandelion's clock

when midnight arrives

it will come as a shock

febrile and heavy 

and flirting with sleep

as thick as my shadow

and three times as steep

​

stretching and straining

and grasping at straws

without learning to listen 

or learning to pause

all of our stories

are cobwebs and lies

everyone suffers

and everything dies

​

physical comforts and 

states of desire

parlours and pageants

and funerals pyres

lovers you've gathered

and lovers you've spurned

i won't try to keep 

something i haven't earned

​

this treasure that has been

entrusted to me

wreath'd in her own

sweet halo of sleep

i will keep time

in poetry and prose

and she'll be in bloom

for the sake of a rose