Mama, take him back, I can't play with him
He's
so tiny, so little, not big like me and Jim.
You said I was getting a new brother
Why, he's not as big as my pup.
How
long do I have to wait, Mom,
For him to grow up.
Two years or maybe three
For him to be as big as me?
Well, if
I have to, I can wait, I suppose
For him to grow a little and take
The first petal from the Rose.
There's the
ship's mast we climbed in search of land--
Never mind that it was just a tree--
The view up there was really grand
And we conquered
the world, you and me
We fought the Indians, the Germans and the Japs.
We never got tired or bored but we hated it
When
Mom made us take our naps.
Then I had to start to school--
Not much as an adventure goes
But we began to grow apart
as life took
Another petal from the Rose.
I made new friends, I can't remember their names
You had the boy down
the street-But it wasn't the same.
The world we conquered now had a different look
There were others out there now,
not just us
And now it all came from a book.
We started drifting farther apart but then,
We were not just brothers
now, we were friends.
Life and time began to change us, I suppose
We were going different ways now-
Another petal
from the Rose.
Time began to fly as we grew apart
Yet the times we shared were closer to our hearts.
We hunted
and fished and explored the world for real now
And woke to find it really does matter how
We do the things we do, love
the ones we love.
For we have our own children now
A new set of friends, I suppose
And time really begins to fly
As
the petals drop from the Rose.
We conquered our separate worlds with our children now
But we kept that sharing,
caring of brothers somehow.
We did what we could, when we could, as time would allow
It brought us closer than ever
before
These times we shared.
Each minute, every hour meant more
And we knew we cared--
We didn't always show
it, but it was there.
Time became our enemy, as the saying goes
As life continued to take
The petals from the Rose.
Suddenly,
we've become frail and gray
As the months and weeks pass like days.
I've gotten old and fat, you're thin and bent
We
sit and talk and wonder where the time went.
We still do the things we did
Though not as often or as well
And if
you stumbled or I fell
No one sees us and we don't tell
'Cause that's how brothers ought to be
Not just brothers,
but friends like you and me.
Time has gotten away from us, I suppose
And there is no stopping the petals from the Rose.
I'm
glad you are my brother, glad you are my friend
Life was good to us and if we could, we'd do it all again
Just like
before, only a little slower
So we could enjoy it more.
But we know we can't, we've had our time
Our children now
take our place.
As I sit and reminisce, I can see it in your face
The love and the care.
I say again, Thanks my Friend
for all that we have shared.
The time has come to say goodbye, I suppose
And brother dear, let MY tear
Take the last
petal from the Rose.
by David B McCurley '97
Copyrights Owned By
David B McCurley
