©1997 Laura Wright. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form without explicit written permission from the author.

As we planted friendship's seed,
And watered it as it would need.
Soon it grew and began to bloom,
A beautiful, beautiful blood-red bloom.

And we laughed all through the day,
We knew the bloom would always stay.
The friend I had was good to me,
And hid the things I could not see.

They hid the secret and told a lie,
Telling everyone so it would not die.
They buried the truth within the past,
Though that lie would always last.
They told the secret to the wind,
Seeking to deceive their friend.

But, it circled and then returned,
Leaving smiles to quickly burn.
I found the truth I had ignored,
Then I needed nothing more.

I watched the lie become so sour,
It followed me on through the hour,
It was hid for just a while,
And wisdom would replace the smile.
For the truth had been revealed,
There was nothing they could conceal.

The bloom faded as it turned gray,
Leaving the friend in yesterday,
I gave them a blossom with their tea,
And that friend went away from me....