Red Clay
My toes sink into red mud - clay - no topsoil. The thickness oozes between my toes onto my nailbeds. I know it will stain. Always does. The cuticles, the dry cracks of the knuckles. They'll be red for a week.
No topsoil. Depleted of depth and nutrients. Overly cultivated, irresponsibly cultivated with no heed for descendants or knowledge that it would hurt.
My toes don’t belong in red clay. They don’t belong in sand.
I belong with oak and spruce with toes in dark, loamy soil.