Poetry

Jab

Photo by Supratik Deshmukh on Unsplash

My plants are angles and needles;
piercing leaves designed to catch the unwary.
I’m not wary.
Thorn-caught and pinned
to my unquestioning confidence
that a tiny point will not hurt.
But the jab is never quick or shallow.
It’s deep and barbed.
A hooked fish.
Leave the barb in —
it hurts less.