Flowers by Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal

Don’t fall for flowery outlooks.

The rose in your teeth has thorns
for your gums.  Flowers die.
Sometimes they stink like dead fish.

Fall down drunk on a rose bush
and you’ll be cut up from ear to
throat.  Handle them delicately.
Love will leave you exhausted.

Love is a prison of the heart.
It is a relentless warden,
like the dark flower that grows

in your soul.  There is a thin
wreathe of thorns that hangs
on your heart and rips it to shreds.

Author bio: 

In late fall, Luis Cuauhtémoc Berriozábal might have a new chapbook out from Kendra Steiner Editions.  There is no title yet.  He has upcoming poetry in Mung Being and Right Hand Pointing.