Roses are a reckoning
Violence is blue
There’s a lens that is magnifying
all the knots we must undo.
Thread in a turbulent moment
feels tension under strain
a test of elasticity
during the transformation of pain.
Pry loose the tight thread bindings
that attach us to the stem
continue the long unwinding
that gets tangled again and again.
Death has given us notice
and will soon evict us all
and no wealth or pardon or privilege
will keep us from this fall.
So take up the delicate roses
in spite of violent thorns
for this may be the last time we gather
before we are reborn.
