poetry wednesday: sometimes I don’t know what our hearts are

"Anatomical Heart" by Sakura-Koi

“Anatomical Heart” by Sakura-Koi

Sometimes I don’t know what our hearts are

by Jena Schwartz

Lying naked on my chest,
clean and smooth after a bath,
the sky a dusky cornflower blue.

“What’s in here?” Pearl asked,
tapping on my breast bone.

“That’s my heart,” I told her.
“You can hear it beating.”

She paused.
Some moments passed quietly.

“Your brain is in there?”

“No, my heart. Can you hear it?”

She listened again,
then lifted her head and looked at me.

“Sometimes I don’t know what our hearts are,”
she said.

I teared up.

“Sometimes I don’t know either,”
I told her.
“You don’t have to know. Just listen.”

And she fell asleep
to that ancient mama music,
the crickets outside keeping time.

 

Jena sent me this poem after my heart attack. “You don’t have to know. Just listen.” She and I have talked through some ancient mama music in the past few months, and I loved getting this from her. 
 

About Patti Digh

Patti Digh is an author, speaker, and educator who builds learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics. Her work over the last three decades has focused on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She has developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.

3 comments to " poetry wednesday: sometimes I don’t know what our hearts are "
  • I have loved this poem fiercely from the very first moment I read it. Sometimes I don’t know where our hearts are either, but like Pearl, I’m always listening. Another deep bow of gratitude to Jena for her wise writing.

  • aurora Fox

    amazing poem–thanks for sharing. you are blessed by so many talented and good friends. This is part of your healing—help from friends who care about you. What a gift.

  • So very beautiful, the poem, the writer, the sentiment. Wishing you a full and speedy recovery. xxoo

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