She finds beauty in dead flowers
Stops to take pictures of fence lines and barbed wire
Loves the irony
Of fenced in gardens
She laughs
"How are we supposed to grow where we are planted
When they only plant us in prisons"
How are we supposed to play nice
If all we ever learn
Is tough
Be tough
But when the boy asks her repeatedly
For her phone number
When she says no
When he makes her feel like she owes him something
Is she tough now?
Or is she whining?
Is she "suck it up and go on a date"?
Is she "what were you wearing"
Is she stiff spines
And door chimes
And hide
Hide
Hide
Before he finds the time
To track her down
To rip the rose petals from her heart
And plant the irony in her brain
Of every barbed wire fence he scaled
To get to her trembling heartbeat
His blood
That she never asked for
His favor
She never wanted
His fistfight
With the other boy saying
"Now you owe me one.
You owe me for my own blood, girl, so you'd better pay up before your loan expires"
There shouldn't be a loan in the first place
You cannot teach her to be tough
And scold her when she says no
You cannot teach her to be quiet
And be enraged when she doesn't speak up
She laughs at the irony
Of gardens planted behind fences
But secretly
She hopes one day
She'll scale the gate.
