The heart has but two choices.
It cannot stay the same
in response to pain. It may expand or it may contract.

Tonight, I trace my tears and
remember fresh razor
cut, your unexpected departure.

I relive constricting fear,
recall sudden silence,
how it sequestered me in pulsing pain.

My slow realization
of your indifference – or
contempt? – collapsed chamber upon chamber,

Body’s natural response
to too much room inside.
I came to understand there was a pain

You carried, too. Then, my heart
knew its only choice was
to expand. And now it aches alone and

Drums a toneless dirge for what
it had. And again there
is space enough for you. Come, rest your heart,

Weary of the restrictions
you have placed upon it.
Let it breathe to the strong beat of freedom.

The heart has but two choices.
It cannot stay the same.
In response to pain, it may expand or it may contract.