A Rose Quartz Heart by Sue Finch

for my pocket

instead of all the tissues

I have shredded

then needed.

The smoothness of it

warms to my touch.

This will carry me through.

It gives me the confidence

to hold my head high

in an unknown city,

helps me remember

to breathe steadily.

The connection to you

across the miles:

I will hold you safe in my heart

and you can hold this heart to remind you.

Day one, my tissues remain intact

to be used without inhaling

paper dust.

On the second day I find myself

just enjoying knowing it is there

without even touching it.

Letting it work by itself.

That night I discover it has gone.

While folding my clothes

in the hotel room

I reach into the pocket to find it,

but it eludes me.

It isn’t on the floor

or in the hallway.

It isn’t where I sat for dinner

and has not been handed in.

The next day it is not on the route I used.

I scan all the edges and the gutters

to check.

Someone else must have it now.

Must have been amazed to see it

when they looked down.

I wonder how many people’s pockets

will hold that heart.

---

Sue Finch’s debut collection, ‘Magnifying Glass’, was published in 2020. Her work has also appeared in a number of online magazines. She lives with her wife in North Wales. She loves the coast, peculiar things and the scent of ice-cream freezers. You can often find her on Twitter @soopoftheday.

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