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A Little Red Book and a Rose
- TCU Press
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-20A Little Red Book and a Rose I used to have a Little Red Book That was more of me Than I am. I can remember the dawns That caught me tryin’ my damndest To paint a portrait of my soul In that Little Red Book. It was one of my secret things, That Little Red Book, And no one needed to know Anything about it but me. That’s the way it was for days and days and days. I was pretty close to happy I had someone to talk to. And then one day, as suddenly as a smile She was sitting in the booth beside me. No, not the one I shared a bed with, (Not that I didn’t want to); No, she was the Lady of the Rose Whom I laughed with. I also cried with my Lady of the Rose. With my Little Red Book in one hand And my Rose in the other We would talk for hours (when I could steal them) Or moments when I could not In booths, car seats, and benches, But they were all flying carpets to a peaceful mind, Even if just for the moment. -21But a stupidly sunny Saturday came along And I, with Little Red Book in hand was gone, Leaving my legal bed better off empty, And my Lady of the Rose behind In a sad city that never knew me. I lose myself now in a Big Black Book But it’s not a Little Red Book With vinyl cover And three rings. There’s paper and lines here, But it’s not the same. It serves as a surface for my pen And shows my words But it doesn’t really listen. I miss my Little Red Book and its brother, Who sits sad and unfinished in Arizona Among other secret things I had to leave. My Lady of the Rose has gone on But I am lucky and have found another. A Lady of the Rose Is so, so, so rare. Copyright © 1975 Steven Fromholz ...