Blue Roses - By: Anna Vera Williams

Long before Autumn, Long before June, I sent you blue roses Beneath a white moon. Almost six years ago, Under the sky, I watched the stars And I swallowed a sigh. You spoke of sunshine And laughter and life ... I remained red-eyed, Saddened with strife. The wind of your woes was As much as I heard. I sent you two roses And whispered a word. My life lived inside me When your life was near. And my heart faded When yours disappeared. There were spirits inside Your eyes ? flickering like fire, They would rise, and then die, And then trembling, rise higher. Alone in the morning, I stood with the wind. I stepped out inside me And silently sinned. I spoke to the sea. I woke wondering why I saw inside me The whole thundering sky. I turned, telling none, Found the hills, flew away Far from the sun, And the brilliance of day. Many years waited, And I waited longer. And yet, unabated, The silence grows stronger. And violence still flanks Us for so many years, Since we last sank Into ashes and tears. I try to remember The sound of the snow The smells of December I knew long ago ... I try to see faces I forsook too fast, And to believe places Of faraway pasts Are not lost forever; Forgotten, or wrong. For I prayed I never Would forget a song. Six years ago I stood Under the sky, Within it no longer I'd learned not to fly. I watched you wilting And tried not to cry. If you wander, wondering, After six years, With all the world's thundering, Wrapped in your tears, And if you find me, Hide deep inside me. Try to remind me Of what lives behind me. If you should meet me Someday again, Death won't defeat me Like it did then. There's no one who knows us. And when the dawn's done, You send the roses, And I'll send the sun.