as if its chambers were lockets hinged
at mouths, each beat impulsively
popping open the walls
of my mosaic heart, my muscle strung together
with stolen silver chains and tarnished
clasps, the dented
heart with a sun-bleached photograph
inside and the pockmarks where gems
chipped off. i said,
i keep you there, i whisper,
i keep you there
always and you open
when i don’t expect it,
let out your air
embolism to go pop
pop
pop
with words you said,
i’ll see you later, you wrote,
i’ll see you around
sometime.
my heart is tiled
with moments like sundrops, like
apollo’s arrowheads embedded
in the walls of my heart.
did you know he shoots
memories, the things
that hurt the most, so his arrows
sting more than Artemis’ dreams—
ah, but the moon kills you
slowly.
and when his lockets open to breathe
they will kill me in an instant,
so i keep you in my heart of hearts
so i keep you locked inside me,
so i will never know when you are gone.