My Heart Minds Me.

My heart is like an old crone veiled with grey
Who rues the lessons that she did not learn
Of things once had, and things taken away
Of things she lost, which never will return

My heart is like a gentleman in suits
With money burning in his silk-gloved hand
He does not dance, drink, or remove his boots
To walk barefooted on the golden sand

My heart is like a lady all in red
Who snaps a lipstick shut and blinks blank eyes
Who wriggles lithely on a double bed
And fills the night with loud and lusty cries

My heart is like a schoolgirl in long socks
Who is not used to practising her wiles
And carelessly throws back her flaxen locks
To face the world with merry, dimpled smiles

My heart is like a child in virgin white
Whose eyes are like an open door to woe
Soon it will be accustomed to the sight
For pain is all my little heart will know.

My heart is like a naked newly born
A page unwritten on, to live, to learn.
Nothing to celebrate, nor yet to mourn
And all left in the earth still his to earn.

My heart is like the world – ungodly, wild
Pays little close acquaintance with my head
Cries freely in a pillow like a child
And hungers for affection, not for bread

My body minds itself. My heart minds me
Into the throes of anguish falls again
Yet love’s torment will ever keep me free
My heart, just like the world, and all its men.