Exactly how it feels after rape.

The Radioactive Ball

by Carole Simmons Oles

I caught it
and screamed for water.

Someone carried a pail,
I plunged my hands in.
The water boiled.
I wore violet gloves beaded with glass.

Now what do I do with this water.
How can I pick the pail up.
Where should I set it.
How to turn doorknobs and enter rooms
and not lift my child

Is it too late to cut them off.
Where will I bury them.
If I burn them, who
will breathe the air of their burning.

Throw them into the ozone.
Ship them to Mars,

these death hands.

No pockets will have them.