Uploaded on April 15, 2012

“Look at her!” he said.
“Don’t ask her out,” I replied.
“Why not? She’s as beautiful
As a flower.”
“You’re right,” I said,
“She’s a flower.”

But you picked her anyway.
And came crying to me
Months later.

“If you were a gardener,” I told you,
“You would have
Left her in the dirt —
Knowing that
Below the surface,
She’s a tangled mess.”

—Cheryl Doyle-Ruffing


04.15.2024: We’re all tangled messes.