Stand here by the rhododendron
bursting out into blossom

Note the moisture in the air
warmed by the coming summer

Watch the skies pinken as day
lingers before sunset

Listen to a ball thumping upon
backyard pavement

Hear eight-year-old girls
breaking into laughter

Catch the scuffle of rubber soles
pivoting and chasing

Smell how exertion melts
office-day cologne

Men and their daughters
shooting hoops before supper

Shoshauna Shy’s poems have recently been published by Poetry South, Third Wednesday, Flint Hills Review, and the San Pedro River Review. Her poem “This Is You in the Sundance Catalogue” was longlisted for the Fish Publishing Poetry Prize 2022; and in 2023, her poem “Not Wanting to Meet My Birth Mother” was a finalist in the annual contest of Naugatuck River Review. Two other poems were shortlisted in 2024 for the Northwind Writing Award.