Roses

I tremor, unsettled, upon my stem,

Rattled by uneasy winds of change,

Unpersoned by this invasion's worth,

But lo, we all bleed red, they said.

*

The English Rose, emblem of blood,

Sigil of legacy, heralds of old,

Roots us in soil that's forever England,

Standing firm, then came the flood.

*

Roses doth weep in the Garden of England,

Petal tears shed on encumbered ground,

Fecund no more with holes in lost memory,

Salted track marks score through all.

*

A rose by any other name isn't England,

The thorns should hurt as you uproot me,

There is strength within that rosy scent,

Tinted glasses hath revealed only Hell.