house of my heart

There's an empty place
Inside of me,
Unfinished basement-
A dystrophy.
At the very bottom
Of my soul,
I lie in the dark
On the concrete cold.

House of my heart-
Just don't go downstairs.
Ascending aorta,
Ignoring my fears.
Step into the kitchen,
Branching lungs and deep breath.
I open the cupboards
But there's nothing left.

Stretch into the hallway-
Pulsing, pounding.
Picture frames empty,
Searching, screaming.
The walls cry out
With their terrible white,
And I see your face
In the flickering light.

Then, soft and still
I hear your name
Echo through the corridor,
Lead to your room.
At the end of the hall
Where I stuffed it away,
Bulging and twisting-
A varicose vein.

Gently push at the door
With my palm on the wood-
Vena cava to ventricle,
Find nothing good.
Deoxygenated-
Still empty inside.
Memories of you,
But my hope has died.

I close the door
And look away,
But the walls are gone,
And the scenery's changed.
Turning to bone,
Like prison bars bending,
Twisting their shape
Into a skeleton.

House of my heart
When it's all stripped away.
Single light bulb
From the ceiling will hang.
My bare basement soul
In its natural state.
Silence,
Heartbeat soon to fade.

I'll sit here inside
My lonely rib cage,
Suffocate
And waste away.
Flesh and bone
And heart of stone.
House of my heart,
This is no home.