Concealed in a rose bush,

I admire the flowers

Content in this solitude,

I sit here for hours

Then you approach and thrust your hand in

The thorns grow fangs and drink at your skin

And I am left wondering,

whenever I see a rose Is it painted red by your blood that once flowed?

Disguised in a mask,

I'm freed from myself

Drunk on the smile of somebody else

But you stride in and tear my mask away

Revealing skin of paper and my eyes of clay

And I am left gasping for someplace to hide

While you stand and demand to know why I lied

Shrouded in a cloud made of my own thoughts

Their buzzing and bother, I have never fought

Suddenly you appear and laugh in my face

Tell me that all of my fears are misplaced

But I am left back at the start line again

Searching for a way to make the noise end

Silent and nameless, I watch from afar

Between us the distance of the earth to the stars

Across the street I watch you walk

Someone beside you, I watch you talk

Still I am left thinking if I could ever be

As bright and as beautiful as you are to me

Illustration by Isabel Mitchelson