Roses

(Yes, I know this is belated.)

Roses are red
Except when they're pink
Or yellow- the color
of friendship, I think

Violets are blue
No-- that's not right!
The ones that I've seen
are purple and white

Sugar is sweet . . .
And grainy and hard
Not quite befitting
The ode of a bard

What shall we do
with these love songs of old?
The falsehoods embedded
Are too oft retold

In truth I must write
of the things that I know
Not flowers or sugar
as white as the snow

But of friendship that warms
like a bright summer day
Filling my soul
with its glorious ray

For better than roses
Or violets of blue
That wither and die
and lose their bright hue

Is knowing that I
have in you a true friend
Faithful and loyal
And brave to the end.