Scott Malby on the Other Side of the
Mudlark
When my grandfather first dreamed of America
he changed and to mark the event he changed
his last name from Cyanoleuca to Cyanoluchia,
meaning one who sings with the mucking mud.
His village was made of mud. He played in mud.
Everyone dabbled, worked and lived in mud.
He sang his mud into the shape of visionary
statements rising out of the clay he sculpted
making fascinating shapes to stand in the heat
baked light until they morphed into the crusty
gray bread of his constructions, able to stand
without his help.
When he illegally snuck into America he left them
where they stood. I'm told the rain has changed
them. Moss grows up their sides and they look
like kayaks making ready to sail into the sky.
© Copyright Scott Malby 2004