When The Rosebud Falls

                                       

                        When aspirations turn into desperations, 
                        When accusations fall into allegations,
                        When confrontation led to consternation, 
                        When irritation gave way to aggravation, 
                        When sensations turned into lacerations, 
                        When temptation led to a new relation,
                        When conversation enlightened an embarkation, 
                        When separation turned into penetration,
                        When exploration sparked into excitation, 
                        When rationalization turned into radicalization, 
                        When manipulation fell onto humiliation,
                        When reexamination conveyed elimination, 
                        When the rosebud fell off its bloom.

                                    -  John Hardesty