Softly the petals fell From a decaying Rose. He, lost in carnal spell, Learned how lust grows.
Trembling, he drew her near, His loins aflame, Felt he held something dear, Gave her a name.
She calmly mentored him, And from her core A roseworm then entered him, Commenced to bore.
Quickly she stole his youth. He gasped for breath, Blind to the brutal truth, Seduced by death.
Read quickly, "De-Flower Shop" looks like a dark little cautionary tale about a young man and a seductive older figure, and the title's pun on "deflower" tells you early that sex and loss are the subject. The rose is the central image, but it is a decaying one, with petals falling in the first line. That choice matters: the allure here is already rotten, and the young man doesn't see it. He is swept up in desire, mistakes it for something precious, and even gives her a name, as if inventing a relationship that never really existed.
Then the tone turns. The woman is calm and in control, "mentoring" him, while a worm bores into him from the inside. By the end he is short of breath, "blind to the brutal truth," and seduced by death. The poem's mood is cold and ominous, and judging by the imagery, its warning is that lust can feel like growth while quietly consuming the person who gives in to it.