Does she know her petals
ignite admiration in the passerby?
Or does she only see
her prickly stem
thinking of her
thick thorns
her busy bush of leaves.

Her lovely scent
her lush red.
She admires other flowers
but she does not know
she is a rose.

my sky
I gaze up at you
like a bird with
clipped wings
I feel the wind
in my hair
I think of your
soft touch
and I wonder
if you envy
the breeze
that kisses my cheek
like I envy the clouds
who embrace in your blue

I have been waiting
to live

for so long.
I forget
I'm already here.

like the moon
I wait for the someone else’s light
to shine

Tiger lily amongst
a myriad of roses.

longing for,
entitled to
a vase.
only to find

she no longer glows against red petals

instead,
she’s swallowed by
a bouquet of mirrors.

no longer special
in a vase
of tiger lily’s

empty words.
until I found you
to teach me
what it meant