Inklings 2022

My blackberry is very fuzzy because it has penicillium. My blackberry is also very soft because it has penicillium. My blackberry’s penicillium tickles my fingertips when I palm it, So, I enjoy holding my blackberry. I bit into one of my blackberry’s drupelets yesterday, It’s safe to say that I really didn’t like the taste of penicillium. When the penicillium grazes my tongue, it tickles my tongue in an unenjoyable way When the penicillium makes my tongue tickle, I gag. But, I really love my moldy blackberry because I’ve always had it in the palm of my hand That’s why I own a four-year old blackberry with penicillium. However, blackberries are supposed to live on plant stems if you want them to last a long time Ironically, I ripped my blackberry off its plant stem long ago, and now, I really regret it. I wanted my blackberry to live forever even though I ripped it off its plant stem. So, I’m holding onto my disconnected, moldy blackberry today. I still hold my blackberry mainly because I like how fuzzy it’s become. But still, the taste of my blackberry makes me nauseous Plus, the blackberry is starting to fall apart. Even after feeling sick and seeing my blackberry wither away, I still can’t bring myself to let its moldy, crumbling mess go I’ve held my blackberry for so long that its started to stain my hands while it dies Which is nice, because I believe that at least some piece of my blackberry will stay with me I’m relieved to know that the blackberry has dropped its tiny little seeds into the ground somewhere I walked, perhaps. But, I’m sad whenever I remember that now the blackberry is going to grow somewhere far away from me. So when I look at the moldy blackberry in my palm that’s falling apart, My blackberry makes me wish that it never got penicillium. Moreover, I wish that I’d never even seen the blackberry. I wish that, instead, I would have walked past that blackberry four years ago without a second thought. A Moldy Blackberry Clara Villalba 36