Bald feet skip through stiff grass
plunge into muddy creek.

Current clears as tan toes squirm
beneath reflections. Thin water
bugs scoot over playful ripples.

In a few glassy steps I'll be
shaded from stabs of sun.
Slime slurs-up sides of concrete
giant. I hide from pickup truck rumble.

Startled water splatters bare legs,
gravel tumbles overhead and
I sneeze as dust winds down Ox
Road. Teentsy gnats crowd brown
banks of weeds. Farmed fields to

Northwest. Corn and soybeans roll
leaves. Run low, barely ankle deep.
Chase darting minnows further down
stream. Pileated woodpecker drills
diary into Red Oak. Cooler
current purls, deep water leaks.

Breeze hisses through creaking tree's
nervous grate on empty grain bin.
Red brick farmhouse stands strict.
Big Sky smells wet with gray wisp clouds.
Corn howls; prays. Yellow soybeans shriek
and sweep. I snicker as pruned white toes
pretend to be old. Diminished sun trembles

behind white backed leaves. They clap,
I bow. Goose bumps lift, leg-hairs wiggle.
Crickets choke as Mother hollers
my name gathering lined-clothes. Eddy to
gravel where diesel and dirt whirl. Tasting
refreshing earth, I pause for breath-
Crawdad creeps near calloused feet.
Breathe Grandma West's name for me,

Powhatan Princess.