BLOODY ROSE

by D. S. Jones

I could lose my heartache in a kiss
this kiss against the wall with him looking
through glass eyes from the past when you were both happy
and he is feeling your love
love like a bloody rose in a young man's hand
covered in tape and cheap fixes to hide the
wound.

wounds that sting in the heart like those jagged edges of wire
that cut deeper and cleaner than any razor has cut before
because that is the point of love
to let the lover inside
past the wire and the hell with the
thorns.

and because it is past the fence
it is most precious
because we do not protect worthless things with iron
walls and gates of stone
we protect what is worth protecting
like these hearts
like these roses that bloom beautiful but wilt
at the edge of time