Invalid
Leaves, like raindrops,
shiver the teal pool’s surface.
Airflow lifts gooseflesh
on my bony arm.
The woods arc up,
a cavern of hushy voices.
I limp and stumble
on paths made veiny by roots.
You take my hand, still bruised
with blackberry stipples.
I try to thank you;
gravel weights my tongue.
These days are blanks.
I will remember nothing.
Kitty Coles lives in Surrey and has been writing since she was a child. Her poems have appeared in magazines including Mslexia, Iota, South, Obsessed With Pipework, The Interpreter’s House, The Frogmore Papers and Brittle Star.