Open

(Using a title and lines from Ian Williams)

Open

Sometimes a phrase, or a particularly beautiful sky
cracks open my heart. A sensation peculiarly painful, yet somehow
enjoyable. Diagnosable by a catch in the throat, a sudden burning in the eyes.

It comes upon me unexpectedly, snapping that atrophied
sclerotic organ apart. I have studied this phenomenon, attempting a theory
of poetic cardiology. After years, I see now, it is so simple:

To correctly open a package of ramen,
a college student showed me, hold it, fly it up, in both hands
and snap till your knuckles ram each other.

Betsy McKenzie
June 26, 2007