Ray Ball 

If you feel you must put me in the earth,
Plant a seed in an eye socket
So that it grows from my bonecage.
I confess I poisoned a goldfish once.

Plant seeds in my eyes and ears.
I hope a tree grows and casts latticed shadows.
I confess I poisoned a goldfish when I was thirteen.
I used acid from the shelf in my father’s lab.

I hope a willow grows and casts fleeting shadows
Nurtured by decaying cells.
I took the acid bottle from the lab’s shelf.
With a pipette, I stole blotches of light from a fish’s eye.

Nurtured by decay, cells burst
From a coffin without a bell.
I stole with a dropper water-whorls of time from a fish.
A certain boy was there, but I shall not mention him.

Box me into a coffin without a bell
If you feel you must put me in the earth.
I stole water-whorls of time from a fish
So that they would spill from my bonecage.

 

Ray Ball grew up in a house full of snakes. She is a history professor, a Best of the Net and Pushcart-nominated poet, and poetry editor at Coffin Bell. Her chapbook Tithe of Salt came out with Louisiana Literature Press in the spring of 2019, and she has recent publications in descant, Glass, and Mineral Lit. You can find her in the classroom, in the archives, or on Twitter @ProfessorBall.