broken heart (walking in the rain)

broken heart (walking in the rain)

Gertrude: O Hamlet, thou hast cleft my heart in twain

Hamlet: Oh, throw away the worser part of it,

And live the purer with the other half.

Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4

i dreamed of temporary tattoos

walking on the beach & towering cities

& i swear to god i dreamed of you

people speak of broken hearts

and i suppose my heart is broken

but it seems to me it has been erased

i am a tongue that no longer tastes

finger tips that cannot feel a thing

eyes & ears trapped in a dark box

•

i often see two women walking

both white-haired and rail thin

they seem almost too frail to stand

walking with shared determination

the shorter woman holding the elbow

of the taller and weaker companion

i have no idea who these women are

life-long friends or sisters or lovers

but i know with all lucid certainty

that they have each other entirely

that tugs at the memory of my heart

lying on the beach we walked together

•

summers are usually times of drought

but days have been dampened by storms

i often walk in the rain crying because
almost no one notices beneath umbrellas