Broken heart

February 14, 2006
iranian.com

Observe the symptoms
Of a heart breaking:

Ache and pressure
On and around
The heart
That beats
Faster and faster
As if running away
From some inevitable
Calamity.

A lump in the
Throat that grows
Bigger
Balloon-like
With
Every
Erratic
Breath.

A slight dizziness
To the head
Tired of figuring things out
Tired of remembering
Words that hurt
Long after they have lost their meaning.

Time suspended
Surreal
Hanging drape-like
In the air.

On life support
The body
Its every movement
In slow motion
An effort.

With half a heart
In its place
The other in the mouth
Pounding loud
Like the hearts of
A hundred
Worried mothers
Looking for their lost
Toddler in the park.

I will
Tear the two
Halves of my heart
Out
And shelve them
In the pantry
With the old cans
Of beans and soups
Where I can’t
Hear their beating
See their bleeding.

And if then
Someone should
Ask: where woman
Is your heart?
I will tell them:

Here, there is
No heart.
Just a hollow recess
Emptied of flesh
And blood.

Just an empty
Hole where there
Once was a heart.