I stood there like a queen
Knowing these flowers have got my back
They are my army

I stood there like a queen
Knowing I have befriended the thorns
The petals have soaked my blood
And hence they bloom afresh with a new tint

I stood there like a queen
Mystified, how they have the same story to tell as me
Have they been in between the pages of my diary forever?

I stood there like a queen
Smiling with pride
Pride, which boasted of having a battalion
Of tissued petals
Of bright fuchsia flowers
Instead of piercing arrows and bullets

I stood there like a queen
Smirking, on how I have tamed
This wild bush
To be baneful to my enemies
And helpful to me.

I stood there like a queen
Feeling content in years
to have called something mine
Something other than my own conscience.

-Shambhavi