Exit Through the Aorta

You left

Furiously joining door to jamb­

Your last wooden kiss.

I twisted the deadbolt with a sick satisfaction.

I flushed your memory down the drain,

Scrubbed your footprints from every board,

Poured every image of you into the blender

And left it on puree.

I extracted you from every chamber of my heart.

Yet Curiosity begged me to leave the window

Un­boarded, undraped.

One sterile remnant of an opportunity gone.

So the window sat in disuse for ages

Time slowly plastering the panes

Until a shadow could barely squeeze through

And the warped sill spoke in creaks and whines.

So it was when your image swirled in the glass,

The knob turned questioningly.

I let the lock answer in my stead

And sat deaf and dumb to your calls.