Not everything that bites is meant to destroy. Not every thorn is meant to stop you. And sometimes, the poison is what awakens the rose.

Cue Casper’s Lullaby – James Horner

For the feeling of remembering something you thought you’d lost.

VENOM IN THE THORNS

By: Sarah Venom

Dark and pitch-black, I still take a step.

Faith carrying my feet up off the ground, with no one around and fog filled this space I once called my town. I heard echoes in the trees of things I once thought I would need. Just like a ghost, a chill runs through my bones. Everything was black and white, but I sure as hell am putting up a fight. The colors that once shined, were hidden in plain sight.

Left… right…

My feet would soon find a trail.

All of a sudden, I was searching for a tale.

A message in the breeze, which will guide me to what this all means.

The search for a way to awaken the colors sleeping beneath the gray.

The fog begins to divide, I guess I have paid my time.

The trail divides in two ways, but a bush is whispering my name. As I get closer, gray is all around.

But one red rose reveals itself.

The rose is traced with a silver line.

Wilting with the passing of time.

The whispering…the hissing

gets LOUDER

an enchantment reclaiming

No hesitating

Illuminating

Intoxicating

Awakening

…and abruptly stops.

smoke slides along the leaves

and through the petals…

A green serpent appears, slithering and coiling around the rose. One would be startled, but it was more hypnotic.

The snake bites & injects its venom into the rose,

hissing and gliding…

darting into the forest…

The rose lit up as venom overtook…dripping to the thorns… enchanting and reborn.

The rose unveiling it’s silver lining with a bright glow

I slowly grasp the stem, the thorn pierces the skin, not sin.

The venom moves through my veins…

straight to my heart

and sustains…

thump… thump…

A burst of light…BOOM

Slowly,

the colors

that were once mine

begin to come alive.