4 BITTER BLACKBERRY

A small set of lyrical poems about identity

Grand Prize Winner Lilya M. E. | 16 years old Ladner Pioneer Library

the human along sea eyes open and sloped seal head shifting salt snapped line

they catch my signal guttural noise of thought willful, wiry wondering from across the room my halved face is not two but seven

the heady scent of them daisy oxygen collapses muscle memory and skin prickles of something stopped

the watch and blink between me and them row over rows of paisley curtain and rotten fruit let circles overlap they bring dahlias open faced to my chin freckles and acne that brush the soft petal and fingers from across the room

there is a catch in my heart

the ragged edges pull away

toppling down the good pieces

of me now along, alone

i can be wanting but not soft

your plucked blackberry rotten and earthy toned to lazy thought she your love when you pressed her into my palm i turned away quickly wary of catching

the stain purpled my curled fingertips when the blackberry coloured your teeth

toss you said what was there to throw anymore

for hours

you were an extension of me

the bitter but that course tone hated then

We left everything piled together in the reeds The porcelain that you wrapped in Sunday papers We tucked under each other ’ s arms and chins Old cheesecloth, olive stains, someone ’ s lipstick Your peppery mouth And i forgot the blanket in the trunk by the ditch

In the summer, we were made of water and skin Boasted of speckled noses Round like robin eggs And we tasted each day with bitten lips Waited for blue with crossed fingers Ached in rain for whatever else we wanted

The warm nights kept us wandering While yawn-less we trespassed Held hands and read palms Before the tired tails of august We kissed life back In the summer, we were made of salt i like my tea next to black the bag tipsy on the water a cup of lukewarm stillness held

Pretty I am not pretty The word isn ’t mine I may give it away, but it never belonged to me

Stock photo for illustrative purpose