A woman ages

                  down, not up,

Bending over

                  red clay pots,

Growing

                  strong ware,

Tending

                  sapling child

                  beneath

                  weathered legs,

A squat bowl

                  hollowed by

                  rain and wind,

Baked firm

                  by red sun.

                                                                                     JDG

                                                                                     Winter 1992