Ritual

In his bath my son looks half-

drowned,

lying so still,

his hair a scarf of weed,

his eyes closed,

and only the water breathing.

He practices

in his porcelain bed

his resting,

rehearsing

until the water takes cold

and he shivers a little against it.

Ritual is from Into Perfect Spheres Such Holes Are Pierced (Alice James Books, 2004).