Field Studies or The Floating Poem

  1. Field. Filed. Fled.

     
  2. This is a field of tiny bones, all girls.

     
  3. Beyond the field is a small pond/river/body of water. Where the mothers take the bonegirls & return alone.

     
  4. There is an art to drowning.

     
  5. A field is an open expanse of land—a grave.

     
  6. First you must submerge the body. Best if head underwater.

     
  7. A river—a bed of sediment, water & death.

     
  8. You must be prepared to hold the baby girl asunder & not let go. Do not let go. You must be prepared to fight.

     
  9. If you return with the girl, he will beat you & then kill you both.

     
  10. I should not tell you this: survival is not made for two.

     
  11. The hardest part will not be the water, but carrying your limp bonegirl back to the field.

Originally published in Southern Humanities Review, Vol. 49, No. 4. Copyright © 2016 by Ansley Moon. Used with the permission of the poet.