because roses were never without thorns

17 Oct, 2026

Dearest lover,
Do you remember that first night in mid July
On the cusp of what was to come
As we lay beneath the oaks
Or maples? I can’t remember
Though the leaves are still embedded in my brain
But you asked to kiss me and I ambivalently said
No
But desperately, I wanted to say
Please kiss me
Now
Will you hold me forever? And
Keep the porch light on for me

Dearest enemy,

I waited for you in that room

Lying on my side in a bed familiar but not quite

Mine

Lamp shining dimly

To my right

As the shadows from the branches reflected

Through the four windows

Hitting against the house

That I wanted to make

So desperately

A home

Dearest lover,
Do you remember the moon to the south
And I by your side
Navigating the world with the same sense of joy as a child
While you captured the likeness of my image
Against the blue vastness surrounding our very small beings
Click click
Click
It shutters with proficiency
Me and you
Making history

Dearest enemy,

Once the glass shattered it

Somehow split something inside of myself

And in cleaning up the pieces it revealed

What I couldn’t seem to accept

On the outside

That maybe we were just broken

So broken as two children that have fallen

From tall trees

And cry for our mothers

Who were we?

And suddenly all your flaws stuck out and my eyes

Burned with the pain of your beauty

Melting into the wooden floors that held

The body of the dead

Dearest lover,
Do you remember driving topless
And skinny dipping and running
From someone
Or maybe just something
But I remember how we scratched the chasm of what was
Our Heaven
And oh how even the stars shone upon us
And smiled down
As we traced constellations onto each other’s
Imperfect bodies
Never wondering what was to be or
What might never become
For there was a deep
Sense of belief that maybe it could all
Just be as it was

Dearest enemy,

Bare legs and the October cold are no match

For a girl running

Away I fled from you and your

Ideas

Because you scared me and

I couldn’t bear the reality of my existence

Any longer

For I knew I would outburst and perhaps

Then be lost forever

For I dreamt of this

Truly!

Believe me!

I did it for you

I promise

Do you believe me?

Dearest lover,
Do you remember me dancing in the window as I made
A spectacle of myself just
For you
For your comfort, for your eyes, because
Perhaps you would view me as more human or more angelic
If I could draw that feeling from your heart
And shape it, clay between a potter’s knee,
Into a better tomorrow
I thought I was
Helping
As the devil entered our domain
Or just perhaps
My perception of what was but
Really
What wasn’t
For I fear I now know that
Tomorrow never came

Dearest enemy,

In the darkness

As you forced me in

Slammed your energy into the pedal

And took me back to my dungeon

Crushing my heart underneath your foot

As you breathed in deeply and exhaled

Your hate

Into my lungs

Dearest lover,
Do you remember when
We sailed through the fields as the soundtrack of our
Life raced through our ears and I still kept dancing while
We reached the blue
Or so I thought
And I rubbed my eyes fervently
Searching
For more
Please
Where are the sails
To my future?

Dearest enemy, dearest nothing,
You wiped the blue away from
My soul
And there is no more left
For you because
You don’t want it
I could have given you everything
Even as
You devoured more
And more and more
But I am so empty now!
Please leave me
I don’t have any left
I swear,
Please
I promise
For I can’t find the green glow of the porch light
Any longer
Just the fire burning the rose bushes that once surrounded my soul
The hiss as you
Strike the match while you speak those five words
Droplets falling onto the green windows but
The fire is too much and the thorns are burning
Even as I trip over the roots, they are now
The roots of my soul, not yours!
Never yours!
You are my enemy
And now
I don’t remember any other
Lover