Garden of the Winter Rose

Endless nothing falls over the ground 
where figures kneel in subservience 
to flat-stoned rows and decayed 
gardens turned black. 
Blindness prevails from eyes straining 
to envision something beyond. 
Fingers, long and curled, probe through 
branches that arch outward 
in futile protestations 
against the frost. 
Wordless prayers are uttered 
(thought is forbidden). 
Every tongue speaks through 
ashes that trickle out of empty grins. 
Mockery reigns here in the land of the 
dreamer's demise, and rains down over the valley. 
All are witnesses of forever in 
the gardens of the winter roses, 
however eternal they may bloom.