The Backwood Queens  | Lisa De Castro

They gathered

Like a pack of wolves, stretched toward the sky

Their spines poked out from their groggy leaves

White bone bark, unbending

Their crooked branches broke out

Into a melancholy hum

Rattling their foliage until they cried

Like banshees

Their voices, caught by the mist

Echoed sharply

Were sucked up by the cracked sky

And spit out in a grey sunlight

Their roots emerged

From the bitter earth

Like thick feet, they stomped

Shaking the ground beneath

Throughout the forest

They unleashed their umbrage

Their limbs, swinging in the air

As they shapeshifted

Into the dark cloud fog ahead

Lisa De Castro has published three books: Margot (novella), The Beauty of Decay (poetry), and The Girls of Songwood (novel). Her poetry has been featured in Resurrection Mag, and Janus Literary.