April Morning With Cicadasong

Despy Boutris's writing has been published or is forthcoming in Copper Nickel, Ploughshares, AGNI, Crazyhorse, American Poetry Review, The Gettysburg Review, Colorado Review, and elsewhere. Currently, she teaches at the University of Houston and serves as Editor-in-Chief of The West Review. "April Morning With Cicadasong" was originally published in The Berkeley Times. It is now a part of Short Édition's series, The Current.

Originally published in The Berkeley Times
And still I'm traipsing through the fields of wildflowers and grass and foxtails. Beyondthese fields are more fields and then moreand then the cloudless sky. Bees hoveringaround coral-colored blooms, I make my wayto the river, crowned in clovers and briars,hair more nest than hair, knees stained redwith scars. Pluck a peach from the tree rimmingsomeone's property and pulse it in my hand,inhale the scent of its skin. I'm no goodat girlhood—worse yet, at being good.Above, the moon swells in blue skiesand the cicadas keep screaming.

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