
The Rose
You gave me a rose
last time we met.
I told myself
if it bloomed
our love would bloom,
& if it died-
O I did not
consider
the possibility.
It died.
Though I cut
the stem
on a slant
as my mother
taught me,
though I dropped
an aspirin
in the water,
it hung its head
like a spent cock
& died.
It stands
on my desk now-
straight green stalk,
blood-red clot
of bud
drooping
like a hanged man's
head.
Does this mean
we are doomed?
Does this mean
all lovers
are doomed?
O my love-
I have not read roses
as amulets
in seven years. . . .
Which doom
is worse?
To love
& lose?
Or to lose
love
altogether
& not care
whether roses
live or die?
poem by Erica Jong

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Related quotes
The Wedding of Jenny McGill
There were red roses, and white roses
At the wedding of Jenny McGill,
For she was a Roman Catholic,
And he of the other ilk,
But the priest had refused the Catholic Church
In the way that it was, back then,
For she was a Roman Catholic,
And he Presbyterian.
But her love had bloomed like a red, red rose
And his love had bloomed as well,
For love is the great uniting force
Of the Lord, this side of hell.
So she baked the bread with her loving hands
And he broke the bread with his,
The love shone out of his Protestant eyes
At the thought of wedded bliss.
Now she'd been raised in West Belfast
And he on the Shankill Road,
They were never supposed to fall in love
Like this, so they'd been told,
For the Orange Lord is an English Lord
And shunned, in the Irish way,
While the Lord of the Green is an Irish Lord,
So said the I.R.A.
They warned her once, they warned her twice
This wedding could never be,
For he was a Presbyterian
This John McGonachy,
And children had to be brought up right,
Believe in the Catholic scene,
And fight to unite dear Ireland
For St. Patrick and the Green.
McGonachy was told as well,
No good would come of this,
For he was a Presbyterian
And Jenny a Catholic.
His parents threatened to cut him off,
His friends just said: 'We'll see! '
He even got a visit at work
From the uniformed R.U.C.
But love should break down barriers,
And love should reign supreme,
They looked for a church to wed them both,
The Presbyterian.
She looked a picture when down the aisle
She walked, like an Angel queen,
He wore an Orange buttonhole,
And she a spray of Green.
The vicar read the service as
They gazed in each other's eyes,
Her love had bloomed as a red, red rose,
And his as a white surprise,
They made their vows so tenderly
Her dress, so white, so pale,
And then 'twas time to kiss the bride,
She lifted up her veil.
The stained glass window by the nave
That showed our Lord in grace,
Had lost some of the coloured glass
Around the Saviour's face,
Two shots rang out, and then two more,
The air was very still,
When red, red roses bloomed once more
On the dress of Jenny McGill.
The lovers died in each other's arms
And love died too, that day,
They carried them out of the chapel door
As some others turned to pray,
And some prayed to the Orange Lord
And some to the Green Lord still,
The Lord in the stained glass window wept
At the wedding of Jenny McGill.
They buried her down in a Catholic row,
And him by the Shankill Road,
Even in death they'd be kept apart
By the Green and the Orange code.
But the Lord is love, and he lifted them up
To a dwelling all white and cream,
Where the roses bloom in the wintertime,
And there's neither Orange nor Green.
27 July 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget

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Cannonball Days
What's come to stay from the Cannonball days
but a house and some clothes on the line.
Fired away your drunken brigade
In the streets of New York as a child.
Woman so fine, fine as a girl
Slow like an Italian wine.
Her hair all a mess and a dress off the shelf
But all of your roses have died.
Better luck in the next life
Cuz you're gonna need it dear.
Loved you back then, but i couldn't say when
Cuz all of your roses have died
All of your roses have died.
I tasted your lips with my hands on your hips
Danced in apartment named Nine.
Cats on the sill and my head to your breast
Beating your rhythms divine.
West Jersey Queen with a rattled machine
Tasted the salt through your skin.
Loved you back then, but I couldn't say when
Cuz all of your roses have died.
Better luck in the next life
Go give em some hell and goodbye
Loved you back then, but i couldn't say when
Cuz all of your roses have died
All of your roses have died.
Basked in the heat down on Christopher street,
Bought you a rose from a bum
Left you a note, had it stuffed in your coat
You laughed and said it was dumb.
Broke like a stem, and I guess you're with him
I'm sure that he treats you just fine.
So bottoms up, cheers, baby here's to your tears
all of your roses have died.
Better luck in the next life
I'll miss you, but go on, goodbye.
I feel like a stray from these cannonball days
when all of your roses were mine.
all of your roses were mine
all of your roses........were mine
song performed by by Ryan Adams

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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They Were So Very Different
And who can blame the husband and who can blame the wife
Their marriage doomed for failure it could not last for life
They were so very different so different in every way
The ways of love not easy as some are known to say.
She the aspiring artist and he a fan of sport
And in her work he never encouraged her and offered her support
Their love bloomed for a few years and died so suddenly
They both live separate lives now and each other seldom see.
And when they meet just a brief meeting such as hello or good day
They find that to each other they don't have much to say
Her art is her great passion he has his football team
Their marriage doomed for failure from early on it did seem.
Their two years of marriage did not bring children that does not seem too bad
In their case the family court need not resolve parental disputes between mum and dad
Love between them blossomed for a brief while but that was in the past
And like 'tis said few things in life do ever seem to last.
poem by Francis Duggan

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The Hand Song
The boy only wanting to give mother something,
And all of her roses had bloomed.
Looking at him as he came rushing in,
without knowing her roses were doomed.
All she could see were some thorns buried deep,
And tears that he cried as she tended his wounds.
And she knew it was love, it was what she could understand.
He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands.
He still remembers that night as a child, on his mothers knee.
She held him close and she opened her Bible, and quietly started to read.
Then seeing a picture of Jesus, he cried out:
"Mama he's got some scars just like me!"
And he knew it was love, it was what he could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.
[instrumental break]
Now the boy is grown and moved out on his own.
When Uncle Sam comes along.
A foreign affair, but our young men are there.
And luck had his number drawn.
It wasn't that long till our hero was gone, he gave to a friend what he learned from the cross.
But they knew it was love, it one they could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.
It was one they could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.
song performed by by Nickel Creek

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Breathless
Don't be sad now
Get up and start again
Though it's bad right now
It takes a while to mend
Keep your eyes
Upon the other side
Nobody cries
When they know nobody died
We all feel it too
No one needs to change places with you
Take two pills and go to bed
If you lose your body don't lose your head
You're only bleeding
Be a big man
Go on and take the gun
If you lose your hand
You got another one
Pieces fly
But we don't run and hide
Nobody cries
When they know nobody died
Take a stand boy
Let's throw the crutch away
And we'll jump for joy
Though our feet are shot away
When you leave
Leave a bit of you behind
How can you cry
When you know nobody died
song performed by by Todd Rundgren

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Roses For My Lady
Roses For My Lady
(A tribute to our Blessed Mother Mary)
on her coming birthday on Sept.8
When my mother died, you stayed by my side
When my heart was heavy, you prayed for me
I always come to you like a baby
Pouring out everything like a mother to me
Scooping all my prayers to heaven
Giving all to your Son who listens
These roses are not enough, to tell you
How much I love and care for you
Thank you, Blessed Mother..these roses I give specially for you
Happy Birthday....
poem by Meggie Gultiano

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Letter to My Lover After Seven Years
You gave me the child
that seamed my belly
& stitched up my life.
You gave me: one book of love poems,
five years of peace
& two of pain.
You gave me darkness, light, laughter
& the certain knowledge
that we someday die.
You gave me seven years
during which the cells of my body
died & were reborn.
Now we have died
into the limbo of lost loves,
that wreckage of memories
tarnishing with time,
that litany of losses
which grows longer with the years,
as more of our friends
descend underground
& the list of our loved dead
outstrips the list of the living.
Knowing as we do
our certain doom,
knowing as we do
the rarity of the gifts we gave
& received,
can we redeem
our love from the limbo,
dust it off like a fine sea trunk
found in an attic
& now more valuable
for its age & rarity
than a shining new one?
Probably not.
This page is spattered
with tears that streak the words
lose, losses, limbo.
I stand on a ledge in hell
still howling for our love
poem by Erica Jong

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My Loss
IN the world was one green nook I knew,
Full of roses, roses red and white,
Reddest roses summer ever grew,
Whitest roses ever pearled with dew;
And their sweetness was beyond delight,
Was all love's delight.
Wheresoever in the world I went,
Roses were; for in my heart I took
Blow and blossom and bewildering scent;
Roses never with the summer spent,
Roses always ripening in that nook,
Love's far summer nook.
In the world a soddened plot I know
Blackening in this chill and misty air,
Set with shivering bushes in a row,
One by one the last leaves letting go:
Wheresoe'er I turn I shall be there,
Always sighing there.
Ah, my folly! Ah, my loss, my pain!
Dead, my roses that can blow no more!
Wherefore looked I on our nook again?
Wherefore went I after autumn's rain,
Where the summer roses bloomed before,
Bloomed so sweet before?
poem by Augusta Davies Webster

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My Rose...
gift you a rose, ,
gift you my rose....
but my rose to you, is not like any rose in this world...
a rose drunk from my tears...
a rose that i take care about it by my soul...
a rose gave it a water by my blood...
and perfumed it by my love....
my rose to you, is not like an roses...
its color not like any colors...
its not a red...
and its not a white...
even not a yellow...
its color pick up from the suns` yellow color..
and mix from the seas` blue color...
and from my bloods` drops..
and from my tears...
so.. its color was mixed with my sadness and my love...
my rose to you, is not like any roses...
its perfume is not like any perfume..
its a mix between a loves` nectar...
and many of kindness, and honesty love...
my rose to you, is not like any roses...
raised inside my heart...
and takes a warm light, from my eyes` light...
and its food, from the hope, that we always wish...
and from our future, which will gather us to each others one day...
so please accept and take my rose...
poem by Hazem Al Jaber

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Less’er Love, And A Rose, In My Garden
I am gardener…. I prune, sheer… at times
…at times I have lesser love
And in less is more, very much more
…………….and there is this garden
..the garden, ours by the Grace of the Life Force, supreme God
..there is this Rose, and those Roses there… all chose a place to be
I, the Gardner choose the blooms from which Rose goes to the glass next my bed
I love this Rose, and less but similar those other
….they decide when to bloom
In sping late winter their souls weep, as I sheer, as I must
In spring and summer and early winter we rejoice as they bloom abundantly
…..every night one bloom from The Rose that’ad also chosen me
in the glass of water next my bed read to me, and comfort me
the delicate-, bewitching fragrance the bookmark for tomorrow night
I love that Rose as my chosen
I am gardener…. I prune, sheer… at times
…..only one Rose reads to me… I a lesser Gardener
Lesser, cause I’m only able t’love one Rose…..this Rose here
….those Roses there, some’r lessor Roses, some’r superior Roses, are my friends
Lesser in texture, shape and fiber and fragrance
Some superior in texture, or shape and or fiber and or fragrance
Friends equal in dimension with the Rose, but less in love than the Rose
…..every night one bloom from The Rose, that’s chosen me
in the glass of water next my bed read to me, and comfort me
the delicate-, bewitching fragrance the bookmark for tomorrow night
I love that Rose as my chosen
I, the gardener…. I prune, sheer…. at times
These other Roses who chose my garden
...so valuable in a muchness o’ Friendship,
…the quality their love much the same as that The Rose
Different the lesser my love, even though my caring equals that towards The Rose
We are blessed, those of us in the garden
…the magnificence of this garden in my life is the sumtotal of you all in my garden
I drink your fragrance intoxicated with love
I love The Rose, and my friends these other Roses in the garden Bless this love
poem by Johan Fourie

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Grief Of My Red Rose
Grief is always hiding behind me
The horrible, terrible thing
It strikes when I am least looking
And lately, it's taking everything
My love is gone, withered and died
A red rose so fair
I have nothing to hide
My red rose just didn't care
When I was least expecting it
Grief of that love came lurking near
What if my rose just never fit?
I now have a morbid fear
What if it never belongs to anyone else?
What if it's not meant to give away?
What if I have to keep it to myself
For the rest of my days?
I will lose it for sure
So I won't let that happen
Grief can't take me by surprise
And i cannot wait until when
My red rose will bloom once more
It's petals will be full, soon
And I will be more cautious than before
Although true love comes once in a blue moon.
poem by Eden St. Andrews

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You Can't Lose At Love (Crush Demo)
You can lose at cards
You can lose your keys
You can lose the house or lose the lease
You can lose your car, you can lose the race
You can lose your mind or lose your faith
Take a look around and hear what I've gotta say
You can't lose at love
No, you can't lose at love
You can't lose at love
You can't lose at love
Chose anything you can dream of
No, you can't lose at love
We could lose the plot
Or we could lose our way
But I ain't going to lose
These ain't good games we're playing
Let me make you an offer too good to refuse
No, you can't lose at love
No, you can't lose at love
You can't lose at love
You can't lose at love
Chose anything you can dream of
But you can't lose at love
Now we just might roll a seven, these ain't loaded dice
We'll never get to heaven from this driveway tonight
You've heard a million promises that's never come through
Baby I'm telling you we're due
You can't lose at love
You can't lose at love
Chose anything you can dream of
But baby, you can't lose at love
Take a chance on me
Cause you can't lose at love
Take a chance on me
No, you can't lose at love
Take a chance on me
You can't lose at love
No, you can't lose at love
You can't lose at love
You can't lose
You can't lose
song performed by by Bon Jovi

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bleeding
Dont be sad now
Get up and start again
Though its bad right now
It takes a while to mend
Keep your eyes
Upon the other side
Nobody cries
When they know nobody died
We all feel it too
No one needs to change places with you
Take two pills and go to bed
If you lose your body dont lose your head
Youre only bleeding
Be a big man
Go on and take the gun
If you lose your hand
You got another one
Pieces fly
But we dont run and hide
Nobody cries
When they know nobody died
Take a stand boy
Lets throw the crutch away
And well jump for joy
Though our feet are shot away
When you leave
Leave a bit of you behind
How can you cry
When you know nobody died
song performed by by Todd Rundgren

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Xviii
I never gave a lock of hair away
To a man, Dearest, except this to thee,
Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully,
I ring out to the full brown length and say
' Take it.' My day of youth went yesterday;
My hair no longer bounds to my foot's glee,
Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle-tree,
As girls do, any more: it only may
Now shade on two pale cheeks the mark of tears,
Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside
Through sorrow's trick. I thought the funeral-shears
Would take this first, but Love is justified,--
Take it thou,--finding pure, from all those years,
The kiss my mother left here when she died.
poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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Sonnet XVIII: I Never Gave a Lock of Hair
I never gave a lock of hair away
To a man, dearest, except this to thee,
Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully,
I ring out to the full brown length and say
Take it. My day of youth went yesterday;
My hair no longer bounds to my foot's glee,
Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle-tree,
As girls do, any more: it only may
Now shade on two pale cheeks the mark of tears,
Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside
Through sorrow's trick. I thought the funeral-shears
Would take this first, but Love is justified,--
Take it thou,--finding pure, from all those years,
The kiss my mother left here when she died.
poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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Sonnet XVIII
I never gave a lock of hair away
To a man, Dearest, except this to thee,
Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully,
I ring out to the full brown length and say
' Take it.' My day of youth went yesterday;
My hair no longer bounds to my foot's glee,
Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle-tree,
As girls do, any more: it only may
Now shade on two pale cheeks the mark of tears,
Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside
Through sorrow's trick. I thought the funeral-shears
Would take this first, but Love is justified,--
Take it thou,--finding pure, from all those years,
The kiss my mother left here when she died.
poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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There Will Never Be Another
There will never be another
Who will love me like you.
There will never be another
Who could hold me, mold me.
There will never be another
Who could love me purely.
No, there will never be another
Who has loved me like you.
And I know that there will never be another love
Who could ever be the love that you are.
cause you had so much to lose, but still you gave it up
For your scars.
But thats the way you are.
And if I spent my life attending universities,
Educated in the wisdom of men,
And if I could even quote a guy like socrates,
Even then,
I couldnt comprehend
That there will never be another
Who will love me like you.
There will never be another
Who could hold me, mold me.
There will never be another
Who could love me purely.
No, there will never be another
Who has loved me like you.
And I know Ill never understand the mystery
If I live to be a hundred and three,
How you died to live the love you give to me.
That there will never be another
Who will love me like you.
There will never be another
Who could hold me, mold me.
There will never be another
Who could love me purely.
No, there will never be another
Who has loved me like you.
There will never be another
Who has loved me like you.
song performed by by Amy Grant

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Identity
Every flower that's ever lived
has had its bloom, then died.
The beauty was while blooming.
It's how it's identified.
Every love that's come about
has bloomed and never dies.
The beauty in this is the knowing
that it lasts after the goodbyes.
For love is stronger than 'death do us part.'
It stays with the one left behind.
And for the one that leaves and goes their way
You still are in their mind.
Only the body withers away.
It lived and than it died.
But like the flower that had its bloom,
Love is how it's identified.
poem by Edwina Reizer

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Middle Man
There was a mountain and there were three trees
There was a good man and there were two thieves
A man called Barabas was doomed for the tree
But Jesus took the middle one and Barabas went free
I love that man in the middle because I know he first loved me
Praise to that man who died on Mount Calvary
The middle man made it possible that I could go free
A hill called Golgotha the place of a skull
No yellow flowers, no trees in bloom the scenery was so dull
Three crosses stood black and bold against a darkened sky
And not from pain but a broken heart that middle man died
I love that man in the middle because I know he first loved me
Praise to that man who died on Mount Calvary
The middle man made it possible that I could go free
I love that man in the middle because I know he first loved me
Praise to that man who died on Mount Calvary
The middle man made it possible that I could go free
Praise to that man who died on Mount Calvary
The middle man made it possible that I could go free.
song performed by by LeAnn Rimes

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dont Lose Your Head
Words and music by roger taylor
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
No dont lose you head
Dont lose you head
Hear what I say
Dont lose your way - yeah
Remember loves stronger remember love walks tall
Dont lose your heart
Dont lose your heart
No dont lose your heart
Dont lose your heart
Hear what I say
Hear what I say - yeah
Dont lose your way
Dont lose your way - yeah
Remember loves stronger remember love walks through
Walls
Dont drink and drive my car
Dont get breathalised
Dont lose your head
If you make it to the top and you wanna stay alive
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
No dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Hear what I say
Hear what I say - yeah
Dont lose your way
Hey dont lose your way
Remember loves stronger remember love conquers all
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
Dont lose your head
song performed by by Queen

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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