I Wish I'd Written This

Seems to me that the best love poems don't come with a bouquet of flowers or a box of candy.  They come with the tightest knots of reality and are almost stingy.  I sure do wish I'd written this one.

Heart to Heart

By Rita Dove

It's neither red

nor sweet.

It doesn't melt

or turn over,

break or harden,

so it can't feel

pain,

yearning,

regret.

It doesn't have

a tip to spin on,

it isn't even

shapely—

just a thick clutch

of muscle,

lopsided,

mute. Still,

I feel it inside

its cage sounding

a dull tattoo:

I want, I want—

but I can't open it:

there's no key.

I can't wear it

on my sleeve,

or tell you from

the bottom of it

how I feel. Here,

it's all yours, now—

but you'll have

to take me,

too.

Rita Dove, “Heart to Heart” from American Smooth.

Click on the title to go to poetryfoundation.org's posting of Hear to Heart.  Click on the poet's name to learn more about Rita Dove.