Early every April we enter our woods and gather pine shadows. We peel them cold and wet off the surface of the snow and fold them into deep, clear bags. The shadows feel like wet nylons. We use twist ties to close each bag. We carry the bags to the garage, heap them in a corner. Usually we get five bags. Hot August afternoons we pull them out, all the long, cool, blue shadows and prop them up around our lawn chairs in the backyard. We drink lemonade and shiver in the delicious shade.
Linda Aschbrenner, Marshfield, Wisconsin, edited and published the poetry journal Free Verse for 11 years. In 2001 she founded Marsh River Editions, a publisher of chapbooks. Her poetry, essays, and short stories have appeared in a number of publications including California Quarterly, Cats Magazine, and Yankee. "Shadow Stash" first appeared in the Wisconsin Poets' Calendar 2008.
