painting by Marlene Vine (marlenevine.com), poem by Roy Herndon Smith
I have not until
this May morning seen a soul
in the small back yard
a slim young woman
stands in the sun on the grass
then she walks over
to squat down under
a spindly tree topped with sprays
of yellow-green leaves
a shiny yellow tag
hangs from a lower limb
a short time later
the woman stands up
walks back to the yard’s center
stands still, then departs
the blooming world blurs
around the edges and clears
around her absence
dust 