By Neena Grewal, TIWP Student

you are not broken.
yes, your chest
is aching
and your ribs are
splintering
and even your
tears are made of acid
but you are not
broken.
people cannot
be torn apart.
they grow
and rot and grow
and rot
like the unkempt garden
of an abandoned home
or the sloping hill
of a front yard.
broken hearts
are not shattered terra-cotta planters
but empty flower pots.
your aching soul
is rejecting the poison
of love for someone you cannot
grow with.
it screams at you
to remove this vile
presence,
to let it leach out
like your toxins
in a epsom bath.
in fact,
take a bath
with oatmeal and salts
and a sweet candle
and help your body
remove the virus.
yes,
it hurts.
it makes your skin
stretch and blood
turn to sludge.
but the relief after
is so intense,
you will never
believe a heart
can break