Letters never sent by Beth O'Brien

 write you letters, like these ones here. 

I focus on my handwriting 

so I don’t over-think the words 

I’m never going to show you. 

I burn a stamp, an envelope, and imagine 

flames dancing from inside a postbox,

pretending I can smell the ink melting. 

Sometimes, I think that’s the only way forward

and I wonder if red becomes redder if you burn it? 

Every letter I write is a reminder of why 

they are letters never sent. 

Every letter I never send is a reminder of why 

I write you words, like these ones here.

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Beth O’Brien is a third year English Literature student at the University of Birmingham. She has had work published with Foxglove Journal, Nine Muses Poetry, and BellaOnline Literary Review. She is a reviewer for Mad Hatter Reviews and Riggwelter Press, and has written articles for sheswanderful.com and the Graduate Recruitment Bureau blog.