Time To Prune The Roses

by Howard A. Landman

Winter is upon us, all of summer's green is gone
Autumn's leaves have long since decomposed into the lawn
And the roses in my garden haven't bloomed since who-knows-when
Oh it's time to prune the roses, so they can bloom again

Once they had a perfume that would make my senses swim
I'd bury my nose in them, and drink the fragrance in
Now they're just a tangle of barbed wire, where nothing sweet can grow
It's time to prune the roses, and let those memories go

You'll never have a rosebush filled with blossoms lush and red
If you leave it bearing last year's stems and flowers that are dead
Though they once glowed green and scarlet, hanging on is just no good
Oh it's time to prune the roses, and clean out this dead wood

My heart is like these roses, it needs to live again
And being empty's better, than being full of pain
Once love bloomed all around me, and angels blew their horns
Now it's time to prune the roses, there's nothing here but thorns

repeat 1st verse
San Jose, January 20-24, 1998

Last updated 1998 June 10