Scarlet Rose----Poison Ivy that Grows

One last day
She comes in late again
He retires to the den

Softly almost lovingly
The painter’s stroke
Spreads across the page
A scarlet rose

Then thorns appear
Ever growing
To protect the budding rose

But as in life
The jealous poison Ivy
Slowly creeps and grows

Waiting for the moment
When no one knows
Smothering the careless rose

Little do we know?
This rose
The unfaithful wife

The painter
The poison ivy
That grows

Grandfather time marches along
Counting time
Tick tock won’t stop
Tick tock must stop

Tick tock----__________________

Now dead
Buried in the garden
Where the roses used to grow
Strangled by the Ivy that grows.


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