Tear Upon the Rose

These tired ghosts that haunt my nights,
Mistakes of my own making,
When I depart at day's first light,
It's them I won't be taking,
If I'm to leave this place I love,
I'll harbor no regret,
I cannot wait to see her smile,
I cannot wait, and yet...

Chorus:
I grieve to leave, I grieve to leave this native land,
Across the sea, she waits for me to take her hand,
My every breath, my every bone,
Have drawn what strength they have from home.
But love is stronger I suppose,
And there's the tear upon the rose.

I've held my shoulder to the plow,
I've worked these fields for so long,
This earth has left its dirt on me,
And made my hands so strong,
It hurts to lay these reins aside,
My heart, and heaven, knows,
This rocky soil I've cursed and nursed,
Is no place to grow a rose.

Chorus

I understand the risk I run,
I love, and I may lose,
But I have seen there, in her eyes,
A Rose I can't refuse.