Gold flower, yellow flower,
chrysos anthemon, ju hua
Chinese lineage extending
over three thousand years
one of the Four Gentlemen,
frost-defiant autumn bloom
ironic, surely coincidence,
the aliens name themselves
the kris-an-tha-mumm people,
the Eyes and Fists of Law
their judgment deeming us
uncivilized, ill-educated
their remediation program
restoring Earth's biosphere
even as we wither and weep
under their unblinking gaze
so few of us remaining
to dream of a far spring.