Cannibal

My beard grows longer,

it will cover the hollow of my cheeks

where I no longer meet

the suburban American ideal

it will cover the frown of my mouth

it will hide the line of my jaw

and the way it works and bulges

when I sit and think of her;

I have opened my chest

in the Y of an autopsy,

many times I’ve

removed my heart

and offered it on a plate

to someone who I hoped

would take it;

But it is old and starting to spoil

and smell in my rough hands

so I will cook and eat it

with rosemary and fragrant olive oil

take it back inside myself

where will dissolve and

the protein will feed my beard

which will grow longer

and eventually cover the scar

of the hole cut into my chest.