Wounds That Burn Blue

Stacia Farris

It seeps
Burns the back of my brain
Even when there’s no fire, no flames
My fingertips blister with heat
It’s uncontrollable, devouring
Swallows everything around it up into
Flickering tendrils of red and orange
And sometimes, blue
The blue is the scariest
Deceiving, looks cold and lone and calm
But burns worse than the rest
And how am I supposed to feel
When I am the fire
And I am the victim
And I am the medic
And I am so much,
But feel like nothing
Among all the flames and burns and bandages
It is easy to forget
I was just a child
And I was given no chance to grow
Besides through a fire that swallows
Forests whole

Stacia Farris is an independent writer with works ranging throughout many genres, though she creates most often in the realms of poetry and horror. Many of her poems detail interpersonal conflict due to mental health conditions, grief, and generational trauma. What sets her work apart from others is the use of metaphor, imagery, and rhythm to create a flow that simulates the thought process that may occur during the experience each piece is conveying. It is to comfort those who can relate and to share a personal perspective of these struggles with those who cannot.