3 Songs of a Rose: No. 2, Hope in Elizabeth

There are miles of Roses in Elizabeth New Jersey.

Backyard arbors shadowed by refineries and the turnpike,

Jungles of scrap, still brown water, poisoned marsh.

None of this matters to the Rose keepers of Elizabeth.

From the backyards of row houses they bring forth pink roses, yellow roses and around a house on its own green plot a hedge of roses in red and white.

Surely faith and charity are fine, but the greatest of these

is Roses.