<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
shelter<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n – <\/p>\n we choose a spot that is hidden, far back in the<\/p>\n woods.\u00a0 where the branches creak and the wind<\/p>\n in the conifer leaves sounds like the sea<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I watch the lichen growing on the tree trunks<\/p>\n <\/p>\n everything is far off. \u00a0we check the sky.<\/p>\n for thunder and other things.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n dirty grey like a puddle, it is heavy but not<\/p>\n yet fallen<\/p>\n <\/p>\n pine needles settled like dust on the floor<\/p>\n crackle softly as our foots press down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n we build the structure sturdy as we can<\/p>\n with the strongest branches<\/p>\n <\/p>\n near the end I drape a blanket over for a<\/p>\n roof and cover it with brown leaves<\/p>\n spread out like stars<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the moon is circular and\u00a0 bright as a lamp<\/p>\n <\/p>\n behind the clouds which are pencil<\/p>\n grey<\/p>\n <\/p>\n we huddle under our canopy<\/p>\n of blanket and branches and leaves and sticks<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the sky comes in through little gaps<\/p>\n I say. see that. how it glows all in a circle<\/p>\n it means something.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n my coat is warmer (Superdry<\/em>) I wrap it around<\/p>\n the both of us and I give over my stripy gloves as<\/p>\n his hands are smaller<\/p>\n <\/p>\n our breath takes up the air like smoke<\/p>\n <\/p>\n something good? he whispers real<\/p>\n quiet into my shoulder.\u00a0 I can only see<\/p>\n the top of his hair which is super-blond<\/p>\n <\/p>\n you look like a rabbit all curled up. I say. a snow rabbit<\/p>\n because they are the best kind and very pale.<\/p>\n or a blond hedgehog.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n whichever.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I wrap my bright pink scarf around us both also<\/p>\n over my ears to block the dark out<\/p>\n <\/p>\n and turn off the torch as<\/p>\n it doesn\u2019t have much battery<\/p>\n <\/p>\n probably. something really good. I say.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the sea is near. if it is still there listening<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the ground is colder than I knew<\/p>\n we lie here still<\/p>\n <\/p>\n and breathing shallow. we have<\/p>\n one blanket one tarpaulin (bright blue)<\/p>\n one small\u00a0 torch two batteries one pack of<\/p>\n salt biscuits one\u00a0 Power Ranger rucksack<\/p>\n <\/p>\n a lighter half full, a stone shaped like<\/p>\n a square. a small box.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hold him. partly so we have a<\/p>\n lower surface area, like penguins<\/p>\n <\/p>\n and partly because of night animals<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I dream I am in a car full of people<\/p>\n we are driving fast down<\/p>\n a long road<\/p>\n <\/p>\n towards a cliff.\u00a0 I hear seagulls and engine<\/p>\n and wheels<\/p>\n <\/p>\n out of everyone I am the only one<\/p>\n without my throat slit<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Catherine Taylor<\/strong> lives in Norfolk when not working overseas for an international development charity. She is currently studying humanitarian response in emergencies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" shelter – we play to pass the time well we choose a spot that is hidden, far back in the woods.\u00a0 where the branches creak and the wind in the conifer leaves sounds like the sea I watch the lichen growing on the tree trunks everything is far off. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4368"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4370,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4368\/revisions\/4370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nwe play to pass the time well<\/p>\n