This inscrutable sphere
Thorns that reside in the false, polished exterior

Remarks like veneer
futile, facile, fruitless

Malicious destruction
Prompting holocausts on
their bodies, their hearts

Words can sting

Detesting on fellow species
their identity, their sexuality, their race
exhibiting the art of exclusion

Thick, scarlet liquid
seeping out from lacerations that
opened and re-opened
from gunshots and grenades -

Yet the sophistication of
the alluring rose
conceals all faults of
human deficiency.