The Wild Rose Club

RENEE CRONLEY 

As a porcelain rose,

I was raised in a china cabinet,

taught that I existed

to be handled and gifted.

           It is the price to pay for being fragile.

But every unwanted touch

left a fingerprint that couldn’t be wiped away,

           so I shattered.

They tried to sweep me up

and put me in a jar with a lid on it,

but I rebelled against being confined again.

So I fled, planted the shards of myself

and grew back wild with thorns.

They tried to silence my wounds

by covering my mouth

so they wouldn’t slip out,

but that only made me bite.

In the wilderness,

I see other girls like me—

senses heightened—attuned

to every sound and movement

like a built-in radar that never rests.

We can see every crack in the ground,

and adapt to become fluid enough

to find our way through them.

We can survive

under both shadow and sun—

           a perennial

that will always grow back

           beautiful

and too sharp to be plucked.

Author Bio

Renee Cronley is a writer from Manitoba that stepped away from nursing to prioritize her children, and has been channeling her knowledge and experiences into a poetry book about nursing burnout. Renee can be found at https://www.reneecronley.com/

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Stripes Literary Magazine began in 2020 and has become a home for un-categorized, unhinged and defiant work of art. We are especially dedicated to beginning and emerging creatives from all over the world.