Tall Pines

Their needles drop

like barbed stars.

This late humidity

heavies the laundry

strung along the line.

Like bodies, after.

Like a whisper, loud

enough to wake

the starched earth,

its softening,

this late in a season,

an answer trying

to swallow

your scurried

heels.

Megan Merchant is forthcoming. Her chapbook, Translucent, Sealed, is forthcoming though Dancing Girl Press. Her first full length collection, Gravel Ghosts, is forthcoming though Glass Lyre Press. Her first children’s book, These Words I’ve Shaped For You, is forthcoming through Philomel Books. Her future is bright. She wears shades.