The Black Rose

If life was a garden,
Love would be a flower,
The flower that dominates the soils,
That makes onlookers stop and stare and wonder.

"Love is like a red red rose"
So bright, so new
And full of life's hope.
When nothing is impossible and all is dreamed of.

The black rose,
Is the harsh reality
The way life really is,
As crumpled and crushed as young love's dream.

If told to pick a flower
I'd pick a rose that was dead
Not for want, but for chance
For true love never blooms in my garden.

Is it better to have a black rose
Or no rose at all?
For a garden without flowers
Is nothing, like life without love.