Carol Peters

[from Muddy Prints, Water Shine]

Mind the Face

As morning’s tidal outflow drains the marsh
and raises muddy prints in water shine
the girl

exposes nape and throat.
A heron blunders up from grass
with a grating cry.

The ebbing marsh
mirrors a house, aligns what distance blurs.
She tilts a glass,

she wishes to grow small enough
to be missed.
When she asks him not to speak

he smiles. Her mind
proposes two eyes, a nose, a mouth.
She’s afraid

to love someone this much.

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