Gift Heart

Inside this tin, I’ve placed my heart,

A last gift to you on this day, at this end,

Five years from the start.

You have underlined the silence,

Outlined the distance, with this nothingness,

and then, just when

my spirit was most hushed, she rings…

Crushed.

Of all the things to talk about on this day,

This day reserved for celebrating love,

The end of a life, and a funeral plan,

How she intends to dispose of the man

Who’s been her Valentine 

For two more years than I’ve existed,

Was not the ideal choice 

Of the care home nurse. 

And now the break in her voice haunts me,

And the phone line quivers,

And disagreement and pain renders me

Speechless, and my soul shivers

At the thought of loss.

And you….it won’t be you

Making those decisions for me -

I’ll be planning my own funeral,

And I’ll send my heart, inside this tin,

The parting gift, 

To your mother’s address,

As I don’t know where you live.

Jennifer Pickup