Shadow of a Rose

As my head hangs low
A moon lit shadow catches my eye
Pulling my attention to a solitary rose
Spotted with sharp thorns
Protecting the fragile life line
Of the blood red velvet petals
That look so beautiful and inviting
My hand responsively shoots out
Reaching for this little bit of silent beauty
In the ever pressing darkness
That is constantly threatening to suffocate me
As I clasp my hand on the spiked stem
It pierces my skin
Sending waves of pain shooting through me
As all things beautiful inevitably do
Drawing forth my blood
Of the same velvety red
That make the petals of this flower
So calmly inviting
As my life force seeps out
This plant hungrily absorbs every drop
Taking all the emotions rooted deep with in me
All my sadness and despair
My darkness and tears
Sullen hopelessness and lack of will
And the velvet petals begin to turn black
The ends curl up
And the stem loses strength
Suddenly the former thing of beauty
Is drooping towards the earth from which it came
The petals start to float like a feather to the ground
Feeling my deepest emotions the rose starts to die
I watch this and feel a sting in my eyes
And in the space between a blink and a tear
The blossom of death falls
Seeing how I’ve tainted this once pure beauty
I grow weak and collapse
Dying under the moonlight
Covered in rotted petals
In the shadow of a rose.