Heart to Heart

It's neither red

nor sweet.

It doesn't melt

or turn over,

break or harden,

so it can't feel

pain,

yearning,

regret.

It doesn't have

a tip to spin on,

it isn't even

shapely—

just a thick clutch

of muscle,

lopsided,

mute. Still,

I feel it inside

its cage sounding

a dull tattoo:

I want, I want—

but I can't open it:

there's no key.

I can't wear it

on my sleeve,

or tell you from

the bottom of it

how I feel. Here,

it's all yours, now—

but you'll have

to take me,

too.

Copyright Credit: Rita Dove, "Heart to Heart" from American Smooth. Copyright © 2004 by Rita Dove. Used by permission of the author and W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Source: American Smooth (W. W. Norton and Company Inc., 2004)