Does A Rose Not Have Thorns…? Poem by Mark Heathcote

If you cut me, am I not like a tree
Does sap not ooze fresh blood and turn amber?
Does my heart not crack like stone, wintrier?
Doesn't my shorten-lifeline its palms camber?
If it does, let me tell you my road
If it does, let me tell you my road
It was better for-having-shared-it with you
For every large bump and jolt, my heart rode
Is better for-having-journeyed-it with you
So there are times' took swipes at each other.
Swing your best shots, embedding deep the axe?
Thereafter-took care of one another
Freeing-each-other from the other racks.
Love can torture; does a rose not have thorns
But gives me both, my heart's bleeding implores.