How the Blue Irises Died

By Harsheni Maniarasan (@hharsheni)

The flowers appeared in the meadow, indigo

blooms of six petals: three outer sepals and three

inner tepals lined with violet veins

that exuded a sweet, earthy scent

and embodied the village’s faith,

my nani once said. Decades after her death, storms

of bullets and exploding grenades

destroyed the village of irises

until one night, a red stream

gushed into the meadow, reeking

of hot metal: the blue irises drowned

in the blood of their people.

Harsheni is a MA Creative Writing student at University of Bristol who possesses a huge affinity for literature and spends most of her time reading and penning poetry. She holds a particular interest in ghazals, haikus and exploring nature through imagery.