And I drew a heart on your sleeve

the way you wore it when you wiped me off your mouth

in bold vivid I shook out a line

on the damp, crinkled linen of your skin

and you looked like the eyes of a small dog

when they know they have been forgotten

and you broke it into ribbons, you did

i know this

simply because I do

and sweaters won’t keep it warm

not even in winter does the cold

broken heart

look up from its tears

that run red around your body

i should have drawn a butterfly

instead of drawing inspiration from

like an insipid stream

butterflies don’t break when they taste metal

the soft curve of the mandible

that has chewed the edges of my heart

we share a pair of eyes

but never again

will you let me close enough to finish the forgotten curves of a wing