poem - Mercy

I am leaving
You’re done
Cut the chord
I will bare my heart
Make sure it’s sharp
Make it quick

Flash your will against me
Relieve this red smear
Smother thebeating
Dull the pulse
Show mercy
Spare it from your side
And I will rip
What was yours, what was living in me
And return it to you.


Do it while our hearts
Are still intact
Before they rot in each other’s care
Before they become riddled with bitterness
Choked by the stinking seeds
Of resentment.


(Jewel Kilcher in “A Night without Armor”)