between the rosebuds
and the thorns
the pine tree branches
with their needles
and kitty claws

my hands are
always bleeding

and turning up
scars that cry, “I’m alive,
I feel it. I feel it all”
and then falling
back into whispers
while my body
heals itself
one more time
~Juniper Klatt, I was raised in a house of water

Thorns, needles and claws are indeed part of everyday life. They often are a barrier to that which is sweet and good and precious.

They can tear us up, bloody us, make us weep, make us beg for mercy.

Yet thorns did not stop our search for Salvation, did not stop Goodness, did not stop the Promise of sweetness to come.

Our scars prove we’re alive and even having been hurt, our ability to heal will never give up.