The Heavens Did Not Extend

the earth          enclosed within           itself                            holy
 
 
            imagining
                        the fabric of this world
            hanging in the midst
                       
 
                        foundations
 
birds
move
through
the air
                        spokes            
 
like the needle            of a balance

This is a found poem.

Source: From Jane E. Mangan’s critical edition of José de Acosta’s Natural and Moral History of the Indies.

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Ray Ball, Ph.D., is a writer and history professor in Anchorage, Alaska. She loves archival research, teaching perplexing texts, running marathons, hiking, and snuggling with her beagle Bailey. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Alaska Women Speak, Eunoia Review, Foliate Oak, NatureWriting, and Occulum. She tweets @ProfessorBall