A Single, Long, Stemmed Rose

She lies upon this bed with a rose across her chest, symbolizing all that she once had and will not too soon forget But his conscience can’t be bothered with her pain, and the tears that stain her pillow one by one they call out his name She lies in repose of their last lover’s breath, and she clutches the rose so tightly imagining it’s his head upon her chest She can remember the way his fingertips felt as they danced across her smooth skin, and she envisions for just a moment that they could be this way again But in her heart, she knows he left this bed forever as she recalls when he last kissed her lips so sweet, and she holds so tightly to this memory that her heart won’t let her stop seeing in her mind on repeat She can feel his arms around her and feel his lips upon her skin, and she lies there just waiting and wishing that it could have been She cries out his name into the darkened room praying that where he is he will hear her cry, but she knows that as this rose, he has left her memory to die How could something so beautiful hold another knowing that it’s beauty will fade? But to her it will still hold its meaning long after it changes its shade When he gave her the rose, he said he loved her so true, and she gazed into those eyes she loved and could see and feel it too She knew they shared a love that would never be surpassed, and as she lies here all alone on this bed her heart repeatedly asks “Why wasn’t it enough to make him stay?” “What changed his mind?” If she was all that he had ever wanted, why can’t they go back in time? She wonders sometimes if he can still feel her that way that she can him? While he is lying beside someone else does he ever pull her close and pretend? Or does he sleep soundly without a thought of her ever crossing his mind? To hear him tell it he moved on with his life But here she lies as though she is strapped to this bed, clutching onto a single, long, stemmed rose with the vision of the man she will forever love in her head.