So much is revealed
in the dark
forms of trees.
In the rustling
growth comes
a throated hiss.
There is a whisper
in shadows,
a secret history
for darkness.
In every branch
there’s a watcher,
the silhouette
of a missing
child, holding
a finger at his lip.

–Matthew Haughton,
Bee-coursing Box (2011)
Accents Publishing

More from Bee-Coursing Box and Matthew Haughton:

• “After a Death in a Country Home”
• “The Broom Girl”
• “If it Hurts its Probably Good”: An Interview Part 1
• “It’s All about Context”: An Interview Part 2
• “Student for Life”: An Interview Part 3

Matthew Haughton was born in Colorado in 1977. At an early age, his family returned to eastern Kentucky, where his lineage stretches back over a century in the region. Matthew is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. Most recently, he was a finalist in the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning’s Next Great Writer Competition. His poetry has appeared in literary magazines such as Kentucky Monthly, Still: The Journal, and The Heartland Review. This is his first published collection of poems. He lives and works as an artist and educator in Lexington Kentucky.