you stand before me
naked
and with a casual ease
you reach down
and swing your ribcage open
revealing your shining heart
within

i reach for it
but just before taking it
i pause
my fingertips lightly grazing the surface
i feel
an amplifier hum,
a harmonic resonance,
and the bass beat of life

but then
dark clouds swirl around you
torrents of rain
spilling down your face

you cry
of abuse, of pain, of a thousand dark events
i still stand frozen
my hand touching your heart
the dark clouds thicken
obscuring your face

i should embrace you
help you keep the darkness at bay
but the intensity
of inky blackness
makes me afraid

i stumble backward
and trip
"i'm sorry," i cry, crawling backwards,
away
but my apology for weakness
only thickens the clouds

it is then i look down
and see
to my dismay
that i am holding your heart
in my hand
and i don't know how
to give it back

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