TODD FREDSON

Mistress (2): Teeter-Totter

Mud around the ankles, like a first beard filling in.
Toes dimple the mud. Trough-like
sleep lines.
Pink carriages along the cheek.
Arms wide, I do not know
if she was mother or semaphore.
Invariably,
some daughter pushes off, her skirt
parachutes; the mew gulls shrink.
At either end, it is dawn. The night’s dew crowns
the cartridges our feet have made, heel divots,
each meniscus
bronze with low daylight.  

   Contributor’s notes   
   Mistress (1)
   Vietnam