~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Julie Sumner

Birmingham, Summer 1979

Mimosa, white oak, hickory, sweet gum,

and every kind of green under the sun—

the sun, the heat so thick we wore it

without shoes, better to feel the cool

of St. Augustine grass on our calloused

soles. Evenings the dark loitered, day

lasted until the fireflies blinked on

and the backyard became a galaxy.

Then came the mulish thrum of a box fan

in the nighttime hallway, the gathering

of leathery neighbors at a listing but still

blue pool, hidden in a hollow below

I-65, and Mr. Whitehead with his Winstons,

always ready to soothe a bee sting

with wet tobacco, a gesture as practical

and kind as teaching a child which type

of leaves grace poison ivy, or which things

to take with you, and what to leave behind.

Julie Sumner is a poet who has worked as a critical care nurse, liver transplant coordinator, and massage therapist. She now teaches creative writing, focusing on reading poetry and writing as ways to develop resilience in healthcare workers. She completed a Master of Fine Arts in poetry at Seattle Pacific University, and a Master of Science in Nursing at Vanderbilt University. Her work has appeared in The Intima, Relief Journal, Wondrous Real, Catalpa Magazine, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Meridian, was chosen by Jane Hirshfield for the Convergence Poetry Prize and will be published in November 2023.