TALES OF SPRING

By Krista Allen

My feet buried in mud Suctioned to the Earth Stuck within the confines Of the familiar stone walls Fabricated boundaries organizing the ground False defense against hungry neighbors roaming among the trees

Our strength in numbers New calves in the adjacent yard My second daughter crying for days Separated prematurely I call back, “I’m still here” Trying to reassure her

Remembering last night When the coyotes circled In the field by the pond At the edge of the woods Their own spring litters ready to wean Rabbits, voles, even deer disappearing to feed them

Tender leaves of clover Push through clods of grass A bouquet of flowers Soon to be blackberries, apples, squash My ears flick forward at attention As a robin pulls a worm from the soggy soil

One of the farmers arrives To take away my milk Bittersweet relief

Nourishment meant for my offspring My daughter will return to me soon Grown taller on stale hay unwrapped from plastic

I recall her excitement Running, leaping, kicking her hooves with joy Chasing her cousins The boys gone now Carted off in vehicles coughing noxious exhaust Never to be heard from again

A vulture weaves an erratic circle above Mobbed from behind by a lithe grackle A gull is perched atop the barn Scanning for leftovers While a woodchuck runs for cover Down the hole to his subterranean lair

The salty evening breeze tells of The Legend (We exchange stories late at night while keeping watch) Of osprey who visit from the Big Water– So copious it washes away the muck Hooves bathed like the heron’s long legs in the watering hole From where the silver wriggling fish he dropped into the field was born–

A place called The Beach Where farmers wear fewer clothes And float like the ducks Gazing across to faraway lands Animated tales of our ancestors Wading in the waves and swimming free

Feet in the Water

By Nicholas Rachel

His chapped knuckles tightened around the fabric of his tee. Gals muscles twitching in the twilight. The twitch followed through his forearm all the way up to a crooked smile, tight lips stretched over near white teeth. Lance rocked back on his heels, the edge of the bridge teetering underneath his sneakers. His eyes dreamily followed Gal’s other finger as it traced around the edges of the bruises marking his ribs.

Dark purple green highlighted by pink sunset.

“See that, that's how you know I’m a badass.This gonna give me mad rizz.” Gal beamed, shutting his eyes to smile wider and Lance bounded over to his friend, shoes scraping dust and dirt into the water below. “Yeah, gett’n y-ass beat come with some mad respect huh.” Lance watched Gals' pine eyes blink open. Lance was standing a breath away from Gal. Fingertips following Gal’s tracing touch, a tender dance across his flesh. Lance sucked in a breath, Gal’s smile softened and so did his grip letting the tee shirt fall over their hands. Gal’s fingers trapped Lance's palm and they fell out of the fabric together, bound knuckles grazing skin and hair. “Who you think I’m tryna get a rizz on.” Gal nodded his head toward the edge of the bridge “Morgan probably.” Lance stepped over to the edge again, arms resting lazily over the railing. Lance breathed in the hazy sea salt air.

Gal pressed his side next to Lance. He was barefoot at this point and sidestepped nip bottles and cigarette butts. “Morgan huh.” He stretched his back, his shoulders straining the tee. Gal climbed to sit on the bridge's edge. A fake metal sword pendant dangling off a fake metal chain, his feet now swinging following the waters waves. Lance’s eyes were drawn to Gal’s calves and thighs and up to the hem of his shorts. Gal’s fingers grazed Lance’s arm before gripping the railing. “ Sure it ain’t you,” Gal whispered. Lance took another sharp breath. Gal stretched his free arm over his head pulling the collar of his tee up and off and over his head. He tossed it to the ground, a thin edge before the empty roadway. Gal began to rock back his feet pulling up to give him a spring when he leapt.

Lance caught his arm.

“Wait.” Lance locked eyes with Gal, and watched the boy smile lips stretching over steaming breath. Lance pulled Gal down, both the boys moving slower than they thought. Caught in the high beams of a passing truck they kissed, salt air wrapping their faces in a temporary frozen rapture. The warmth passing between their delicate touches. Gal did not move to pull away this time, and as the touch ended, as the wind picked up. He lept into the water with a smile bright across his face. Lance raced to join him.