The heart under your heart

is not the one you share

so readily so full of

        pleasantry

        & tenderness

it is a single blackberry

at the heart of a bramble

or else some larger fruit

        heavy

        the size of a fist

it is full of things

you have never shared with me

broken engagements 

        bruises

        & baking dishes

the scars on top of scars

of sixteen thousand pinpricks

the melody you want so much to carry

        & always fear

        black fear

or so I imagine
you have never shown me

& how could I expect you to

I also have a heart beneath my heart

        perhaps you have seen 

        or guessed

it is a beach at night

where the waves lap & the wind hisses

over a bank of thin

        translucent orange & yellow

        jingle shells

on the far side of the harbor

the lighthouse beacon

shivers across the black water

        & someone stands there 

        waiting

        (Craig Arnold)