When I saw you on this afternoon walk, I kept my distance. Your weapons were in full display. My feet braced, on sand and stone, for retreat. Yet my eyes were drawn in to blossoms, of all things, amid the spikes. I wondered how you had come to be, what primordial trauma had first caused you to take up arms?… Peculiar in the realm of plants you are: peril and beauty together, adorning the red cliffs.
The Desert Toad 