My Father's Roses

The roses my father planted
Died out long ago
They were for my mother
Who is long gone as well

I hear him cry out
Behind the closed door
How could you take her?
Why God not me?

The dead thorns
Still prick my fingers
The untended vines
Tangle around me

I take my time
Pulling from the earth
The burdensome weeds
My father left behind

Water and weed killer
Fertilizer and sun
The resilient seeds
Though the roses have wilted

I will not destroy them
Her remnants
Instead I plant beside her
The proof that we survived

When I bloom in the spring
My father will understand
That I am still here
And her love never left