Rebirth
Take it; take my heart
and clean
every capillary, vein,
and artery,
for they are full of
bitterness and pique,
impeded by
abashment and regret,
clotted by remembrances
of insufficient zeal.
When you are done,
when it is pure and new
and pumping nothing
but untainted brew,
show it to any person
I have wronged
in earnest or by chance
and let each keep a piece
for recompense.
Then give me back
my part; what’s
left to me,
what most or little heart.
_____________
Philip Kirsch