PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

It was an odd feeling to wake up and feel my heart beating inside my chest. Its warm weight made me groan, having grown used to an empty cavity since I had last heard of it. I was certain I had dropped it in the backseat of the cab that drove me to the airport, as it was so terribly heavy I was afraid to be charged for a carry-on. It fluttered uncomfortably against the cardboard box I had placed there in its absence, filled with unanswered memos from my guts to my brain. As it kept on drumming, I felt the need to know where it had been. Had it hopped on the train after the girl with the cloudy eyes? Had it washed away in the downpour downtown and somehow made it to Montréal? I was glad it has made its way back to me, all things considered. As far as losing things go, one’s heart feels like very foolish thing to lose. I might be upset if I lost my wallet or my favorite pair of socks, but the uncertainty of a heartless existence would be too much of a burden to bear. As I went on about my day, my heart kept pumping at a steady pace, as if saying I’m here! I’m back! I’m here! I’m back! A joyful beat as my veins taste coffee in the morning. A backflip when my dog greets me by the door. A kaleidoscope of experiences filtered through steady ventricular contractions, the one most precious thing a young person cannot afford to lose. I’m not even sure if an insurer would cover the costs, as I’m sure even having a heart counts as a pre-existing condition. It had certainly run away before, chasing after half-baked dreams and floating away like a balloon, as if love was a substitute for helium. But it always made sure to send a postcard from wherever it was staying the night. But losing heart is discouraging by definition, and I had no contingency plan except a simple cardboard box in the shadows, to make a space feel less empty. So the steady beat of my heart is a sound I must treasure, a tangible proof of the fact I am alive and capable of the unimaginable. A runaway heart is romantic by nature, an odd liability while traveling and a fascinating condition to have to live with.