Petals

The plant needs sunlight
Like the addict needs cocaine
Like the earthquake needs a fault line
Like the portrait needs a tack through it
Like I need love

Three petals grew on the plant
Each one unique
Each one important
To lose one would be to lose its identity
To lose one would shorten it's already limited life
To lose one would mean one less chance at surviving the year

Three
This petal sat in the light
To everyone it seemed like the healthiest
The happiest
It was vibrant and perky
Reaching closer and higher to someday touch the sun
But it had too much sun
What had been making it glisten turned against the petal and burned it alive in the end

Two
This petal was shaded
Protected
It hid from the burning sun
It constantly wilted but for the longest time it was alive
It's not known which day it finally lost the battle
But hope dissipated for the second petal

One
The final petal had swayed between darkness and light
It had lived through the unthinkable and all it needed was time to grow
All of its energy pushing for that last chance at life
But innocent fingers destroyed it when it finally thought it was winning

The flower needs sunshine
Like I need love

But everything dies in the end

-A