A ROSE FOR A FRIEND

Copy Right 2010 by Gordon Kuhn





I had a friend who went away


she never said how long she’d stay


I bought a rose and placed it where


no one would stop and stand and stare


but a place I knew she might wander past


and hoped the flower would somehow last


that my message of sadness and regret


for being one who without thinking and with unplanned neglect


had sadly let her fingers drift from mine


then somewhere, somehow, something cut the line


which I had not in place wished or had any such forward design


but failed I to tend the growth and failed to note or to in time seek to refine


the friendship that should have long passed the test of time


while our love had grown so quickly from infancy into prime


too late I then discovered how quickly a clock can chime


and another flower placed I this day


and wished that she might stop this way


but I know she’s gone and will never return


too late, too late the lesson did I learn