Middle House Review
Despy Boutris "Evening in the Woods"
EVENING IN THE WOODS
Like a wolf I made my way deep
into the woods. I looked at the lines
on my hands, level as linens, veins
visible, branchlike, the subdued blue
breaking through. And the trees above
turned hooklike, holding the afternoon
rain like winter coats. I lay with pine
needles in the mud. Lungs
expanded. Time stilled like the city
always seems to after a storm,
despite all the wreckage. Everyone
needs stillness sometimes.
We all need a minute to lie
on the forest floor, don’t we?
Breathing, breathing.
Bio: Despy Boutris's writing has been published in Copper Nickel, American Poetry Review, The Gettysburg Review, Colorado Review, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. Currently, she serves as Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast, Guest Editor for Palette Poetry and Frontier, and Editor-in-Chief of The West Review.