A Single Tear

A single tear in my heart.

… tired from stretching, 

Shades of pulsating red, 

Nearly collapsed

But still whole; 

The heart is not something to be used and discarded - 

At will.

The words written upon it 

Cut into membrane and flesh: 

Beware the instrument used to create, 

Shape, 

Manipulate. 

Beware! 

The mark left, 

A single tear in my heart, 

Felt for a long time to come; 

Cry through the opening, 

Mix with the blood… 

A single tear to remember the pain - 

Before it heals. 

-- (copyright) By Heather Jean Chin


Free-form thought, written in response to a writing prompt and edited for presentation amongst fellow artists and writers, I consider this poem a reflection of the pain, loneliness and perseverance of all of our human hearts and human souls. The tear is both a painful affliction and healing salt-water, representative of the dual nature of so much in our lives (love-hate, life-death, end-beginning...) and how they beget one another.
Change. Continuation. Growth.