Mouse Heart

My heart

nestled
in a space under the floorboards

I hid it

years ago

There it stayed

Period.

I couldn’t risk it

being misused again

I learned

by degrees

how to function without

Didn’t even miss it any more

Almost

Then I dreamed

(or maybe it was a vision)

I put my heart back

into my empty chest

It beat again;

I was persuaded

I should have known

Dreams are not

to be trusted

if we are to survive

unscathed

My heart grayed,

a small, dead mouse

I wear around my neck

as a tribute

to you, my love.

submitted for mindlovemisery, Prompt 17, Pessimist

and The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 122, A Baker's Dozen