To avoid a rose

Is to never glimpse

Soft petals

Stifling, sweet aroma

Unable to hurt

Beyond reach of claws

Rooted deep in earth

Each lonely, singular

Love is pointy

Painful to the indelicate

Reach too far

Get hurt

To fall upon love

Is to be pierced

By Cupid

His arrow barbed

Finger outstretched

Ruby bead gurgling

Lava squeezed from

Blue canals

Why covet the rose

Out of every bud

Pretty and plentiful

Defenseless

One truly wants work

A challenge to rise to

Ease unsatisfying

Blood, sweat, tears

To me

The rose

Looks the same

As every other floral

I could never covet the rose

When the wildflowers sprout wild