Knotted Roots

Cassidy Pekarek

When we move into our new home,

we plant vibrant rose bushes in the front yard.

Pink blossoms, slowly splitting out from the bud,

nestle among a bed of blue-green leaves.

Despite the soft velvet of the petals,

the leaves are serrated,

the stem outfitted with bristling hairs,

the thorns sharpened into thin points.

When we plant them in the clay,

hidden in the shade of our home,

they fight us.

They bite our hands; they tear at our clothes.

Our skin prickles with white lines

that blossom into red welts.

Still, we work to bury them deep,

patting down the earth around them and

welcoming them into their new home.

We flood them with water

from a leaking hose,

and leave them

to root themselves to us.

But they never do.

During the summer,

a swarm of beetles infest our rose bushes.

They gnaw through the delicate petals,

undeterred by the hairs and thorns.

The leaves are speckled with holes,

pale and dry like the skin of a corpse.

They’re dying—

yet the valiant rose bushes don’t fight it.

Instead, they offer themselves up, stretching to show

the appealing pink blush of their flesh,

the cool blue-green hues of their leaves;

wilting and sighing as they are slowly devoured.

When we dig up the dead bushes in the spring,

the skeletal remains of their thorns latch

to our arms, biting and tearing.

Ripped from the clay, their roots

are tangled in unyielding knots,

like gnarled hands held together—

refusing to venture any deeper.

Cassidy Pekarek is a third-year student at the University of Iowa, currently double majoring in English/creative writing and art history (although she's also tempted to add a minor in art to her list). She enjoys artistically experimenting in a variety of mediums and forms, but favors short stories and poetry in her writing, and painting and wood-burning when practicing her art. She hopes to one day publish her stories as an author and illustrator, achieving the dreams she's had since elementary school by creating works that highlight queer characters to make up for the lack of LGBTQ+ inclusive stories she experienced growing up.