Skip to main content
By Ru Freeman

The heart, the surgeon says, does not reveal
the small rifts, the hairline cracks which


split the hairline cracks they conceal cops
and robbers in a stretch of skin flaunting


star-scars with show of blood bone
the ledges of what it holds tight in checkmate


moves: bend this and break
fight first and bleed to earn


needle  finger  wrap  caress  balm
the salvation of sight   Behold what beauty


lasts, what outlasts itself    The curtain
calls the ovation    Seize the beginning


that ends this way: off center stage above
fractured ribs the heart succumbs in silence


All is dark. Listen      a kommos sung solo
It is too late to repair anything.


Source: Poetry (April 2019)

  • Arts & Sciences
  • Living

Poet Bio

Ru Freeman
Ru Freeman is a Sri Lankan and American novelist, poet, and critic. Her writing appears internationally in English and in translation. See More By This Poet

More Poems about Arts & Sciences

Browse poems about Arts & Sciences

More Poems about Living

Browse poems about Living Get a random poem