Across stars and blood-bitten skies
dryads
fire nymphs
pulsate veined wings
stirring a sultry breeze
After all
there is quite a bit of flesh
one whispers as they spy
the skin of earth
These hard-core sprites
swoon
diving into orchards
of swollen blossoms
wiggling their pink toes licking
maple from bark
sipping sassafras tea
giggling
as forget-me-not petals
open wide
Kathleen Strafford is a student at Trinity University in Leeds studying for her MA in creative writing. She hopes her first collection of poetry Her Own Language will be published this coming year. Her poems have appeared in Interpreter’s House, Butcher’s Dog, Algebra of Owls, The Fat Damsel and various anthologies.