Paper Heart
My paper heart
Flies like a bird
And flutters like a butterfly
When I feel my breath taken away.
It is weightless,
Gliding on air
Along miniature music staves,
Hop-hop-hopping to the notes
In quarters, eighths, and halves.
And it beats on,
My paper heart singing its song,
Waiting for love to set it free
And make a paper symphony;
To trace and re-trace
The plans that it made,
A bittersweet step
Down memory lane,
And all of the things
I don't think it could take.
My paper heart lies restless--
Awake.
It falls asleep
In the cottonwood tree
On a paper branch, by a paper leaf,
Its tripping and skipping
Short and sweet.
My paper heart begins to dream.
My paper heart
Knows what it is to love,
To give everything
Beyond and above,
From the stars to the Sun
From the moon to the sky.
My paper heart
Couldn't give up its mind.
It wrapped itself
In a nice little box,
Wrote a note, and took a shot
At happiness and wild joy.
It was never meant
To be someone's toy.
My paper heart was hit with rocks--
They tore up the note
And sent back the box.
So came an end
To this short history.
It gave, and gave
But never received.
My paper heart
Had gotten them wrong,
Breaking, and hating
And aching along.
My paper heart
Changed its tune,
Lonely, sad, and filled with gloom.
It fell apart
And cried a lagoon.
An innocent love
Had met its doom.
The sum of which
Just made life harder.
My paper heart-
It flinched away,
It couldn't take another day-
Realized with a bitter start:
They had written
In permanent marker.
My paper heart,
Wounded and scarred,
Broke down amidst
Every battle scar,
Gave way to a storm
Not likely to end.
My paper heart
Ripped itself to shreds.
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