The Porcupine
He moved through life’s wild and challenging landscape
displaying his defensive, threatening weaponry—
sharply pointed quills able to instantly pierce
another’s mind and heart like arrows into the flesh.
Each quill was a painfully clear message—
a demand for physical and emotional distancing.
He sometimes yearned for a transformation
of these sharp barbs into Cupid’s arrows—
arrows of romantic idealism
celebrating sexuality and love’s mystery
with adventurous, eager innocence.
He longed for such Romance,
but when it appeared in female form
he purposely ignored her subtle invitations,
ignored his own yearning,
and fought with well-aimed piercing barbs
to fend off her quietly seductive charms.
Romance died, and he moved on…
August, 1992 revised April, 2004
Flowerpoet 