The night sky above me holds the silver stars and great darkness but holds no moon. The fact that the sun drowned in the canvas of blue just to let the moon come up for air amazes me, but the luminous pearl is not afloat above my petals tonight. Without its opposite, the sun must feel incomplete, causing the night sky to seem flawed and empty.

Just like the sun and the moon, without my menacing thorns, I feel incomplete. And just like when the sun yearns for the moon every night, I long to let my weapons escape the veils of my petals. Without my perilous features, I can’t be perfect nor can I be real.

Perfection within me is only possible with all of me - not half of me. I can’t be perfect without my colorful petals, nor can I be perfect without my menacing knives; I need both. When they come together, they create me; a dangerously beautiful rose that just like the sun and the moon, feels incomplete without the other. Perhaps, we can only become perfect when our unique imperfections come together to create something beautifully united in the flaws of this divided world.