Raspberry Run

By Mariel Wiley, featuring Evelyn Shumway and Addie Thames

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It’s quiet now,
the last of the children’s voices carried away on the wind. 
August sun sinking into soil as we walk back into the woods, toes and shoulders bare. 

My wild women,
with arms outstretched into raspberry bushes, searching for something sweeter than the end of summer. 
Never mind the thorns; we’re tougher than that now. 

This, the still moment
between when we wished to leave and when we’ll loathe to go. 
One last raspberry run in a place safe from the passage of time. 
Goodbye, sisters, for now or evermore —
it’s quiet now.