My Heart Does Not Break

My heart does not break

It is not yet so solid

Instead, I find it torn

Worn thin in places

And fraying in others

Where the wear of life has wrought its damage most finely

Delicate holes in the weave,

Fine patterns, can you see them?



My heart does not break when you turn your face

It does not shatter as you leave

It is not brittle

I have life left in me still

Still, as you leave

The strings tied to yours are pulled away

Stripping my heart of its muscle, its tissue and tendon

Wearing me smaller and smaller

Yet I am still alive



My heart does not break

It does not decompose,

It is an organ

Tied to the rest of me, you cannot have it

I need it to breathe, to live, to bleed

My heart is an organ,

And though it may ache, it will not die

The blood that it carries is my own



My heart does not break

It does not shatter,

It will not crumble

It still moves blood

To the fingers that shake at your absence

To the lungs that can't forget the taste of your air

To the lips that unconsciously whisper the prayer of your name

To the stomach that holds all my loneliness



But my heart, it will not break

It is stronger than that, still

My heart does its duty, commanding my blood

Though it edges around the hollows that your presence once filled

While the rest of me may cry at your distance

My heart remains alive

And while my heart does so

So will I.