Blues
I
The creature found me in Hensol Forest
during my sixteenth summer
I didn’t eat anything that wasn’t blueberry flavoured
for two weeks and three days
It lived in a wood cabin with a log fire
and floorboards that creaked under my weight
We ate blueberry pie together with our bare hands
My blue legs crossed on a matted fur rug
with rust-coloured stains on the underneath
I bathed with blueberries
burst open their plump skin
and left a blue-black stain on the cast-iron rim of the bathtub
The creature slept in a room
with tree roots grounded into the floor
Trunks stretched their arms across the walls
As we entered their crooked fingers unfolded
A bluebird sang a song I did not recognise
II
I sleep in an oval wicker-basket
with a knitted tartan blanket
to keep my blue skin warm
I am like a newborn kitten
drowsy in my slumber
I wake to a bunch of painted roses
with thorns that prick at my fingertips
The creature collects drops of my blood
in a glass jar with the name Blue
engraved into its curves
I have my place on the oak shelves
next to the rows of other glass gars
coated with thick smears of dry blood
The creature wears his fur red
around his mouth
Taylor Edmonds is a Creative Writing student at the University of Gloucestershire living in Cheltenham, originally from Wales. She has been published by I am Not a Silent Poet.