A Woman in the Sun

The shed        behind the barn behind the red cottage I wait

for her in the fescue grass the rye        I hear it grow over me

Wait for my friends in the distance        on fire their full heads

of rust (I love how the clothing drips off them        I hear myself say)

If the beekeeper doesn’t        come chasing behind with a hatchet

I’ll wait behind Cobb’s barn        watching the distant houses

She will come down this road        my shadow is paving for her

a stalk of honey        and the rye grass grows from her arms

(She was raised in these hills        looking down on Elk Creek)

and behind her the bluegrass        it’s reaching to touch her ankle