What is the medical name?
What did the mother feel when the midwife fell
quiet—whispered Call an ambulance to the doula?
It’s a soft expression for a terrible condition
Heart on Sleeve.
Tyger print, trumpet flare, and chiffon,
it once caught fire over a candle I lit
to warm the cold hands of a man not yet my mistake.
Sis, that’s no place for a heart trust me
if your mama never told you what’s what
and where’s wear. A rib spreader is syntax enough
to put hurt back in its cage. Here is the door
there is the steeple open it wide.