they will already be stamping out fires,
burying the hot wood.
They will have flattened beach chairs, limp
towels hung about their necks.
They will move with heavy legs, huddle close
as if there were bombs.
They will load up into cars floured gray, rouse
them one by one.
And forming a dark caravan, thread
the trail home, emptied of sun.
Kristina Bicher’s chapbook, Just Now Alive, was published by Finishing Line Press as a contest finalist in 2014. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Crab Creek Review, The Louisville Review, and many others. She received a BA from Harvard University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.