Selective Memory

By Emily J Helen

The cosmos I bought for you died. 
Before, they were divine. 
One, purple bud survived 
(it could have set an example), 
then fell in prayer, 
crushed blackberries
all up my thighs, early morning 
mopping up spoilt jam. You warned me,
every way but words. I like 
to think about the past
with a sweet tooth; picking flowers.
It makes it taste better.

Emily J Helen is a final year English Literature student, writer and poet. Appointed as her county’s Young Poet Laureate in 2017, she is presently creating and compiling poetry for her first collection. Recently, she was featured as the ‘chosen poet’ for Marble Poetry Magazine’s broadsheet; her work has also been published in Turnsol Editions’ anthology Florilegium