Zippered Heart

There is a zipper on my heart.
I leave it done up
For most of my life.
For very few have let the zipper slip.
Undone part way
To see capillaries and arteries
of lust and love.
And the atrium and ventricle
Of trust and friendship.

For lust is thin
As capillaries are.
Tiny burst of movement
that come and go.

Pull the zipper more
To see arteries of thick-walled love.
Pulses of movement
To quicken with time.
Letting me live.

When the zipper is undone
My heart is open
To you.
My capillaries and arteries.
Keep my body moving
And my soul crying out
In love and lust.

Half of my zipper is for the ventricle
A chamber of trust.
Faith for all reasons
No questions asked.

Half of my zipper is for the atrium.
For friendship is a large part of my heart.
Amicable, genial, warm.
For you I belong.
No excuses to be had.

And when the zipper is broken
When capillaries and arteries
No longer work.
When ventricle and atrium
Lose all movement.
Then I die
For love, lust truth, and friendship
Are gone
And my heart beats no more.