Without Petals

~~~To Be Unadorned or bare~~~ Like a lone rose left unattended in a garden; my beautiful petals were carried off by the scorn of the midday storm__til only my thorns remained. Angered by the disarray of my form__I found no love for my guardian, my caretaker, or the earth that roots me. For hours I laid barren and weak of spirit until man yielded unto my helplessness and sort after my estranged petals... For what is a rose without its' petals? But an unsightly thorny stem; to give thee nay___ of its' sweetly scented touch? I pray thee__ remember thee thus. If you pick a rose__it is yours not only to keep, but to upkeep! Let not thy earthly concerns forfeit thee__thine best of treasures...! {A woman is the rose of which you need not give}