Of Mud in Camp

Half her leg disappears
             in the mud. The children

wobble her home. One foot 
             shoeless. Her clog lost

in the pit of muck
             deep as bone, deep

as their great-great-great-
             grandfather buried

in a mountainside grave.
             The children fall into mud.

The children pull each other out.
             Their faces—the shape of rain.

Their shadows eaten
             in sludge.