Gardens of Concrete and Letters (Full Version)

Unfolding in dust and mold
and pollinated by worms
no sweet scent
beauty all the same
not quite Eden
but ashes to ashes
dust to dust
they grow so beautiful
in these gardens
of concrete and letters

Names played out like a storybook
bouquet for the princess in her castle
confined as it may be
never to see the petals fall
until they join her
in a mixture of beauty and dirt
that once sweet smile that you swore would never die
she's proved you wrong again
and happily ever after
is simply a number
etched in stone

Breathe it in
the fragrance of life
at its peak
take in the sight and sound of silence
dancing ghosts serenaded by a dirge
an epitaph of love or loss
stone watchmen stand vigil
over a granite garden
grown by tears

And its a verdant mound
under empty skies and bloodshot eyes
sobs and howls mix with laughter and anger
as you cannot let them rest
we cannot let them die
we cannot surrender our love
into the gardens they've earned
into peace they've sought
fought for and found
do not dishonor them and weep
and cling to the fringes of a tattered robe

Leave me here
in this beautiful place
my garden of concrete
and memories, etched in stone.