the heart strikes

I know all about that fist within

how it speaks in lightning

sings in metronome

how it longs and how it lends

I know how to measure in beats 

per minute, in pressure, in 

the oxygen exchange

but I don’t know how a muscle 

of sinew and mathematics 

can turn cold, enlarge, or break

how azure eyes can bring haste 

or a long embrace, multiplied and replayed

lengthens the squeeze and pads days

how arteries grow stiff not only with plaque

but blackened skies and loneliness 

I don’t know how the heart dares 

to hold a life here on earth

but—would you please tell me—

how it decides to move on

and when to survive?