Three Hearts

1. Ambivalence (Reverdy)

heart of the thornbush,
rosehips, bloodflower,
flos Adonis, anemone:
sublimity, ephemera,
beauty, loss & love.


2. Endocardium, Lub & Dub (Klink)

in the middle of things: the push
of pressure, release & hold,
cusp & valve, no click but systole:
thump, thump, diastole: dub


3. Ultrasound (Cummings)

the heart inside the body
inside your body does not
beat, beat so much as
whoosh, whoosh:

there is no knowing what living
with this double drum does
to a body so close to giving
everything only to hear, so
soon that cyclical whirr turn
to crying out the first time.

there is no way to repay
the carrying of a heart
that, one day, will give
itself away to someone else.