Like a rose
   as a child
I was picked
   too early
To become
   an adult

My petals still
   enclosed
   around myself
Without
   understanding
   of who
       I was...

As an adult I let
   the rose blossom
   and the first petals
   fall away

So that
   the new growth
   would be
   a new flower
   on a
   stronger stem.

Jodee Kulp