BUT INSTEAD HAS GONE INTO WOODS
Lyn Lifshin

A girl goes into the woods 
and for what reason 
disappears behind branches 
and is never heard from again. 
We don’t really know why,  
she could have gone shopping 
or had lunch with her mother 
but instead has gone into  
woods, alone, without the lover,  
and not for leaves or flowers.  
It was a clear bright day 
very much like today.  
It was today. Now you might 
imagine I’m that girl,  
it seems there are reasons. But 
first consider: I don’t live 
very near those trees and my 
head is already wild with branches. 

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Lyn Lifshin has published over 130 books and chapbooks including three from Black Press: Cold Comfort, Before it’s Light, and Another Woman who Looks Like Me. Recent books include: Secretariat: The Red Freak, The Miracle; Knife Edge & Absinthe: the Tango Poems; Malala; A Girl Goes into the Woods; Femme Eterna; Little Dancer: The Degas Poems and #alivelikealoadedgun. She edited 3 anthologies: Tangled Vines, Lips Unsealed, and Ariadne’s Thread. Her web: www.lynlifshin.com