Heart—Posterior View

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Made up of two halves,

the heart is divided by the septum.

 

Where did the rift between us occur?

Left subclavian artery or aortic arch?

Perhaps the right atrium, always pulsing,

pumping out those feelings.

 

Or was it the oh so superior vena cava?

Most likely the inferior.

My inferior vena cava has always felt, well, inferior.

 

After all our history, your footprints

were all over my pericardium.

How could they not be

after confessing every heartbreak

every fear, every shameful secret?

 

And each triumph

when shared with you

more meaningful.

 

When you abandoned me

my left common carotid artery

bled out.

I was half a person

with half a heart.

 

I blame the septum.

Always divisive, controlling

what comes in and what goes out.

Published in Soul of the Narrator Anthology Vol. III, Fall 2012

Mixed MediaLinda Townsdin

Mixed Media
Linda Townsdin

86 thoughts on “Heart—Posterior View”

  25. What an interesting poem! I’m very picky with poetry – I rarely like things online (most rhyme, I don’t like rhyming poems!) but this is extremely well written. Great rhythm and I like that you have chosen to write about something as transcendental as love and used the language of science.

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  31. Beautiful inspiring poem,Thank you for liking my ( about) l will follow your interesting weblog to read your new poems.Blessings.jalal

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  37. Linda,
    This poem is such a powerful find for me. Thank you. In the midst of reading John Selby’s Quiet Your Mind and on page 137 he mentions Chinese Biologist May Wan Ho “Each heart is in essence the heart of the universe. Our individual heart is connected with whatever there is everywhere,” and yet we feel separated, disconnected. On a more astrological note the midpoint of my Sun/Moon has been translated by both Pluto and now Uranus, the mother planets of division and breakup. Really explosive shatterings if we are to be poetic about it. And yet somehow by some grace I am experiencing a ‘breakthrough’ instead. I will refer to your work more for inspiration as my own work blooms. Again… many thanks. Well done.
    HVA

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  43. I am a cardiac surgery/stepdown nurse and I love the heart (just wrote a little bit about it in my last post). This is a wonderful poem!

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  57. Have you ever heard of “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter”? It’s a novel that was turned into a really poor made-for-tv-movie. One of the characters merges close up photography of anatomy etc. to make pictures of other things.

    Your post reminded me of that. Beautiful. Good job.

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  59. I love the poem, so much. And as a person who has a very unusual heart (a congenitally corrected transposition of the great vessels) (my aorta and pulmonary arteries are switched, but so are the ventricles) (so two wrongs make a right, with everything working well, albeit backwards), I REALLY appreciate the metaphor. Today is the first day (I started my blog on 1/1/13) where I am looking at “Freshly Pressed” here, and your poem was the first post I clicked on. And I’m so glad I did. Thank you for your talent and for sharing it here. — Ann

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