.

I had to know if I was alive
The theory needed to be tested
so with nail to skin a line was drawn
a faint magenta indication

It was not enough
deeper and harder maybe
letting pressure divide epidermis
the invasion registering with nerve endings
giving senses knowledge

Now with hand to chest
I watched the trickle, then the flow
Felt the pulsing upon my palm
as the red pooled,
then drew its own path toward gravity
back to the origin

My mind correlating that the beat of the organ
was causing the drain
Yet with all this empirical data being taken in
something I once knew to the core
could now not  prove
that I have a heart