Wilting Rose by Brian Z. 705

Every Christmas

we exchange gifts

But it is only a ‘thank-you’ I hear

Every dance

I wait for you with a single red rose

And yet it wilts each time with impatience

Jealousy

has won over me

My soul weary and frozen in time

Shattered by the battles I have lost

All that I am capable of

to watch the world around me blossom

while I pray in silence

and cry