Roses

I have been born a rose with inch-thick thorns. I am: Extremely dangerous Highly potent A neon light explosion A supernova of stardust Get too close, I will make you bleed. Sweet, succulent drops into your mouth, over your teeth. An iron dance on your tongue, a fire burning in your eyes. Hands like shears you swoop down and uproot me Take away my oxygen, my light, my life. The sweet sugar that used to bubble up and drip down my stem like honey now clogs my pores and inflates my body. Your greedy harvesting hands could not wait for me to grow, to bloom, to blossom. I could’ve been warm, I could’ve been soft, I could’ve been everything by being nothing at all… By being me. I am not here anymore. A rose is a rose is a rose You would rather no one have me at all, Than to let me be my own.