The Boy Found Floating in Mud
by Larry L. Fontenot

    He was shaped by the absence of earth,
    day-dried clay scooped away to reveal
    the clean smell left when mud failed
    to kill him.  Stranger's hands drilled
    into his dying, lifting him like a bridge
    to starlight.  His body arched in homage
    to fingers and eyes pricking holes
    in nighttime, the blackest dirt of all.
    Breathe, breathe, said the darkness.
    Celebrate.






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