Conjunctivitis

Let it be plucked out,
this orb whose scales
might finish a witch's
broth, whose film is
an aphid's sticky sap.
Split its thin tissue;
untie its binding
ribbons; snuff the worm
in its wriggling dirt.
Place it on the tongue—
see how it swells
the throat! Clip its
meridian of fire;
sew it into the pocket
of a drowning man.
Release its colony
of serpents, their flesh
the beams of a blood
moon. Rinse it
in brine, crush it,
or swallow it
entire, this eye
of leviathan
so heavy,
piercing,
pungent,
pink.