woe are the hearts that are heavy
filled with summer heat
and a lust for sadness
that can taste bitter-sweet
venus went retrograde and
now the tides throw me
back into oceans of exes
and the loveliest messes
my acupuncturist looks at my tongue
it’s red
and swollen
and then says
‘your gallbladder is harassing your heart’
and i think
‘your gallbladder is harassing your heart’
even my own internal body and blood
traps and congests
it’s emotions
rising up
through deep puddles of heartache
joy, worry, grief, fear, and anger
all the way by veins and into
that little cave of a chest
where nobody wins, and nobody rests
where even within relationship
we all reach for abandon
instead of staying and dedicating
we run
we escape into hotter dungeons
where our arteries there, burn
and our gallbladders harass our dear hearts
our gallbladders harass our dear hearts
for losing the chance to heal with another
as we well know
we’ve outgrown the work of 'alone'
yet always,
we’re hoping for that ‘other lover’
to take some kind of cover
and as fear accompanies
the shifts so desired
it takes more than excitement
when two conspire
it takes cooling
and staying
aloe water, mint tea and nurturing
soft prayers - through discussion
to relieve all the slow-slumbering fire
but even as I lie there with tiny needles in my chest
as if to console the rest of me i express
‘my gallbladder is harassing my heart’
and again, i repeat and digress
‘my gallbladder is harassing my heart’