I have a white rose to tend
In July as in January;
I give it to the true friend
Who offers his frank hand to me.
And to the cruel one whose blows
Break the heart by which I live,
Thistle nor thorn do I give:
For him, too, I have a white rose.
-- Jose Marti, Simple Verses, trans. Manuel A. Tellechea, Arte Publico Press, 1997, p. 105.
