Black roses by your beside
Are darkening your room
Haunted by our hidden love
I’m reminded of my gloom.
You two are lying together
Sleeping soundly in the bed
Tears are rolling down your face
At a touch that should be mine instead.
Anger rushes through me.
Then a calming love of you
Sickened by thoughts of him
Saddened that you stay true
Yet I try to understand

How it’s too much for you to lie
I look again at the roses
And suddenly, don’t want them to die
I take the one with most thorns
Your lips bringing me unbearable temptation
I squeeze the thorns until blood flows free
Satisfied by sacrificial self-mutilation
Blood runs like water
Out of my still gloomy veins
Distracted by my hands stinging
Rather than my heart’s pain
My blood drips onto their petals
As their scent fills my nose
Painting them from black to red
I breathe life back into the rose
Happy that I’ve made them beautiful
Happier still when we won’t have to hide
The love we share for one another
And the red roses by your bedside.