Roses — For Eight Belles
You were born black as night and you should have grown grey
We were both young then
And you taught me well
That in this world that was not made for us
We must run and run
Fast as the wind
With hearts like locomotives
And ankles like champagne glasses
You have haunted me all my life
In my dreams you still stand proud
And you wear a cape of roses
In my waking hours I run
I run and run
Fast as the wind
I have learned to have
A heart like a locomotive
And always I have had ankles like champagne glasses
Today I lay in my sickbed that I made for myself
And you lay in your grave, states away
And I think about how we ran so hard to prove ourselves
That we shattered, more heart than we could contain
More dreams than we could reach
But when I was young, and you were young
I watched you run, fierce and joyful
For two minutes you burned the sky like a meteor
And I knew you and I could do anything in this world
I cheered so loud for you that my throat hurt
And cried so long for you that my head hurt
They said you had been born this way
With a heart like a locomotive
And ankles like champagne glasses
They said you would not ever grow grey
But I swear to you, in this world that wasn’t made for us
I will grow old to remember you
And I will grow proudly grey in my own time
And we will run and run
And we will have our roses
