Barrayaran Roses

Maureen O'Brien

Barrayaran Roses

Lyrics & Music Copyright © Maureen S. O'Brien- All Rights Reserved
Inspiration: "The Mountains of Mourning", Lois McMaster Bujold (and other Barrayar stories\novels)
Lyrics posted with permission of the author

We are like the roses;
We do not belong.
Fighting to survive,
To stay alive we must be strong

All our lives, beginning when we're born --
Because Barrayaran roses need their thorns.

We are like the roses;
Brought here by mistake,
Not supposed to be here.
All you see here, we were forced to make.
All that we have made we mean to keep.
We are Barrayaran roses, rooted deep.

Barrayaran roses,
Hardy as a weed.
Handle us respectfully or else we'll make you bleed.
We were meant for gardens, behind stone walls to stay --
But sometimes, garden roses grow away.

We are like the roses.
We are forced to grow.
Homesoil here was never sweet,
But no defeat can make us go.
We are no one's fool and no one's pawn.
We are Barrayaran roses, growing on.
Growing on....