On Hearing Your News
By Kate Buckley
My eyes lie flat in my skull,
darkened, bruised
lashes whip-stitched to swollen lids –
sleep has once again been elusive.
My organs weigh more
than they did the day before,
swollen with unhappiness,
gorged on regret:
tiny fists in my stomach pummeling
the hanging ball of my heart.
Copyright Credit: Kate Buckley, "On Hearing Your News" from A Wild Region. Copyright © 2008 by Kate Buckley. Reprinted by permission of Moon Tide Press.
Source: A Wild Region (Moon Tide Press, 2008)