Flowers and Thorns.

A rose though beautiful
cannot stop an iron heel
Though the woods are fairer
Well after they have flowered

I asked the rose to forgive me
if I had stepped upon it.
Then came to me the reply:
The thorns will teach you not to do it twice.

How can I feel the thorns
if I wear these iron boots?
But the boots protect my feet
and keep them free of stones.

Listen to the flower–
it shall teach you how to walk:
both with your feet unshod
and your blood near the top

This white rose may run red
flowing with my blood-
But at the end of it all
I may learn to watch my step.

{Christian Kane}