Tonight's Poet Corner: Quilted Heart

Quilted Heart
by Belinda Roddie

Sometimes I wonder
if the concave eye in my chest
is covered by a sheer, or perhaps,
in the end, something must thicker:

A handstitched, painstaking design -
one representing an ancient past,
or perhaps an awkward, yet steady, future.

I have a quilted heart: The kind
that needs protecting. The kind
who tucks Washingtons into plastic
jars for public opinion. Who orders pizza

for a dear friend
thousands of miles away. The kind
that appears strong, but fabric
is only fabric. It tears easily.

The holes are noticeable,
flaws and indiscrepancies.
You can swaddle what's beneath
a ribcage, but the cradle is never
safe from impending wind.

It rocks
and it sways
and it falls
according to the song.


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