Clay Mandala

No artistry here; I paid two dollars for a twenty-five pound bag of scrap. Red clay, it leaves a wet red residue and dries opaque over my fingernails; I could be up to my elbows on a riverbank. I pound and pull something from as deep as my small intestine. When I'm done, and when it dries, I'll break it up again into dust and let the river take it back.