'My Rib'

My lungs heave its final breath.
My right and innermost rib pokes
At it, I can feel the flesh
Move around the white hot bone
And seperate, yield against it and
Rip. I can feel the bone deep inside,
Mixing with the air until I
Exhale marrow.

It dislodges and travels far from
It's cage, never to slot back into
Place again. And the other side
Pierces where my heart would be,
I feel the bone thump to the rhythm
Of my grief.

I will live a long time now, I will
Watch my skin decay and
Maggots eating at my raw muscle. I
Will observe as the bone presses tight
Against my skin until it
Reveals itself to me, finally.

It was not broken.

I will live in this fractured sorrow,
And my soul will continue on in
This mourning. My agony will mean
Nothing and I will chew on every
Word I wish I had said, I will heave
Every one that I did. I will gnaw on the
Space between until it gets stuck in
My throat, that my fingers will graze
It but it will remain lodged there.
That lump in my throat that feels
Like the wrath of almighty God when
I try to swallow it.

I will choke.

And I will relish in its sickly sweet
Feel as I hold my very rib in my hands
Begging God to love me enough for this