I.
Can’t you feel my heartbeat?
Is it not enough to listen through my breast?
Would you prefer,
If I were,
To press my fingers through my flesh and bone, tear the organ from the ventricles.
Which keeps it pumping
Keeps my blood flowing
Keeps me alive,
And hand it to you?
A bloody mass of dying tissue ripped from its home,
Sitting in the palm of your clean hands.
Do you believe me now?
II.
Can’t you feel my chest rising?
As my lungs breathe in your scent,
Can’t you hear them pumping like the bellows of a raging fire?
Are they too demur for you
Trapped in their pearly prison?
Would you like to take your hands
Grasp my cage
And tear it apart?
Hear me gasp for you.
Would seeing the inhale and exhale of every shaky breath finally reach you?
Do you believe me now?
III.
Can’t you see me thinking?
Don’t you know my neurons are firing?
Put me in an MRI and watch as the screen fills with fireworks when I hear your voice.
Watch my amygdala blush the deepest crimson when you touch my hand.
Is this not enough for you?
Then take this saw.
Split my skull.
Let the ivory crack.
Watch the red trickle.
Reach in and feel the grooves of my mind.
Can’t you read your name in braille?
Do you believe me now?
IV.
Can’t you hear my soul sing to you?
Can’t you see the chameleon sphere that shines beneath my surface?
The cracked glass that glows when you smile
The being that bends to your will.
Here, take a scalpel.
Touch me.
Spread my wings and pin them down.
Dissect me.
Find my deepest secrets.
Find my soul in the darkest crevice.
Take it.
Do you believe me now?
V.
Can’t you see you consume me?
Cut me open,
Infiltrate me,
Dissect me,
And you’ll find yourself.
©2022
