when your heart is splintered

let the pain in and do

not filter
that ache, burn
let it slide into your
throat
gather that pain around
you and
sob
all you need

when the most broken man I know
tries to break you
breathe and
exhale (seven counts in, 11 counts out)
because you, my sweet
are worthy
so worthy
of the love
he cannot keep

let those barbed wires
fall to pieces
around you
dissolve into your
earth
aerate your soil

and from that
pain,
may you grow softer,
stronger
and
may you always
turn
towards the sun.

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Apprentice Editor: Bronwyn Petry / Editor: Renée Picard

Photo: Jeff Robinson, Flickr Creative Commons