Glide your fingers over my petals

Pay attention to how they fold under your weight

The way they open without my say

Splayed out ready for you to play

Do you see the colors?

How they merge into the stem

Red into orange, yellow, green

This is where my beauty greets the rest of me

Long, straight, strong as my stance may seem

This is not how it's always been

Keep running your fingers down and you will meet my protection

Thorns the size of a finger nail

Meant to stop intruders before they get too far

You may admire the petals

Find comfort within my velvet embrace

If you try and pluck me from my home there will be a price to pay

Blood will run into my soil

Scars will litter your palm

If you wish to love me, love me as I am

Leave me in the garden

Water me with intention

Speak kind words

Take care of me exactly as I am

Thorns and all

Try to change me, prune me, perfect me

I will fall, dead and empty