Of Roses

Red
splotch
of color
imposed on
a black
and white
background,
no good,
throw them away,
Wait.

Please.
Give me
the rose,
give me
three roses,
for me
for my friends.
Let us photograph
you, me
and the rose.

Smile,
don't smile,
look pensive,
look thoughtful,
look at the rose,
look hipster,
look gangster,
look like
someone else,
not yourself.

Backdrop
of garbage
a dumpster
a brick wall.
Urban.
Cool.
Hip.
Trash?
No.
Let us savor
this moment.

Subway.
Mice scurry.
The walls,
the floors
covered in
grim,
layers on layers,
dirt.
Don't touch.
Germs.

The train
pulls away
and I run
alongside it
with you
silhouetted
in the window.
The Rose
Just a splotch
of Red

With dank walls
turned black
behind it.