FRANJOLA, SL
SL Franjola
Age: 15, Grade: 10
School Name: Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, New York, NY
Educator: Joy Franjola
Category: Poetry
Notes on the Anatomical Heart
I am more steel than bone
more mechanical as I drop and shatter
my bones had a habit of twisting
so I replaced them with something inorganic
strange and unclean.
When I replaced my bones
my organs fled to higher ground
my liver became an oil drum
and when you lit matches
next to my kerosene heart
it grew a layer of metal
so none of my joints squeak
but when I bleed
I bleed the blood of a machine
I knew all the hymns
sang them clear while my voice was
heady enough to hit the notes
when my heart became mechanical
I descended an octave and a half
knew only tongues subaqueous
my head was underwater
my breath not far behind
my anatomical heart long since hit the bottom.