in a million years

it stays with you, that first rending of the heart

like permanent ink or an oil splatter scar

it shapes and it colors, with lessening intensity

but still it sits

and it stays

for years

and years

and then

you

see

him

and things fall and splinter

and amidst the crash

you see his eyes

and he holds out his hand

and you take it

because it was just

so

fucking

unfinished

and you push your head under the water

and learn a new way of breathing

together

again

and the sweetness is so sharp

that you don’t realize

your hand, the one he holds

is bleeding

you slip it from his grasp

dripping

and you look at it

finally

you turn it over

and back again

and

remember

that it is flesh

it has weight

and worth

it can make a fist

and it can fight

and write

and heal

and you rub

your bloody fingers

over your mending heart

as you walk

away

click the heart below, if you like.