Malcolm Gladwin

Barren Thorns

I struck my skin upon the barren thorn,

And life-red rose to surface warm.

I stared into it-bubble-deep,

As from the wound,

my skin did weep.

 

It traced a path slow to the floor,

Reminding me of days before,

And all the roads I dared to tread

Each drop,

a whisper of paths I\'ve fled.

 

It showed the way I made it down,

From mountain smile to valley frown.

Each fall returned me to my start,

A bleeding map of shattered heart.

 

The droplets fell with quiet grace,

Coating grey cement\'s cold face.

At first, it seemed a wasteful spill,

Like years I\'d lost against my will.

 

But then, with every crimson line,

I saw the tears I\'d left behind

Each drop a ghost,

a dried-up cry,

That never found the ground to dry.