by Katherine Soniat

Brush
of slim slurry
slickens
criss-
crosses
clay

                        Paled
                        in cool
                        porcelain
                        a face
                        emerges

                                                 Solid and immutable

Red and blue prayer flags still fly near the river

Katherine Soniat’s sixth collection of poetry, A Raft, A Boat, A Bridge, is recently out from Dream Horse Press. The Swing Girl, published by Louisiana State University Press, was selected as Best Collection of 2011 by the Poetry Council of North Carolina. A Shared Life won the Iowa Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared recently in Women’s Review of Books, Hotel Amerika and Crazyhorse, among others. She teaches in the Great Smokies Writers Program at UNC-Asheville. Website: www.katherinesoniat.com