When You Left, (for Sue)/ poem by Mary Beth Hines

April hung
on by a thread

thin strip
of almost blue

twined through still
winter-bare branches

horizon leached 
pale beast tracks

petrified in months 
old mud and born-again 

rocked on haunches 
thirsting leftover March 

marsh water soaking 
skin through tangle of hair 

vagrant droplets
plashed like prayer 

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Mary Beth Hines is a frequent contributor to Lightwood. Read more of her poems and reviews by going to our Search Button and inserting her name.

Mary Beth Hines is an award-winning poet who also writes short fiction and non-fiction from her home in Massachusetts. Her debut poetry collection, Winter at a Summer House, was published by Kelsay Books in November 2021. Her recent work appears in The Inflectionist Review, The MacGuffin, SWWIM, Tar River Poetry, Valparaiso and elsewhere. Her short fiction was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Connect with her at www.marybethhines.com