I had a dream the other day
That you and I climbed the stairs to the top of the tallest building we know
And looking out, we folded a thousand paper airplanes
And sent them, gliding, white and crisp
Fluttering, careening
Down the cool breeze
To the four corners of this town
That being said-
Or that being done-
You turned to me
And with a false embrace
And with a kiss on the forehead
Knifed my chest with half a scissor
Pulled out my still-beating heart (so careful, so sincere)
And said
You can live without this, right?
And Newton-like you dropped my heart with precision from the top floor
Watching it fall (resolutely) and saying you were sorry
And then kneeling by me as I lay dumbstruck in a growing puddle of blood
(Blooming around me like the border of an empire, conquering strongholds and villages and little homes)
Saying you were sorry
Saying you were sorry and hoping we could still be friends
When you had gone to sleep, a dead woman arose from the redness around her
And staggering down the stairs, sang you a lullaby you never heard
Outside she found her gray heart on the cement
A circle of blood around it
A circle of truth inside it
In vain she tried to put it back inside her chest
And thinking better of it, she took her heart and all its inside countries
And rolled them out on the ground
Spread it crisp and bright and smooth
Ironing the chambers and cleaning out the arteries
When it was flat and dry she folded it into a bird
She folded it into a bird
And she sent it flying up to meet you
And to say good night
And then goodbye
And then on
