alice hindman

you hold your heart out
at the end of your sleeve
your hand breathes
I haven't felt it on my face
since age was the TV screen
lighting up your eyes

and I'm thankful
you begin to find
more and more hope
in the world's emptiness
but you make mistakes
see it all
as a darkness
that you walk through

you have nothing to prove
when you cut me down
by my ankles
like any bent tree is rotten

I move like you do
but keep life inside my ribs

there's nothing heavy there
not a treasure
not a masterpiece
I never was

I am just as empty
as you don't know you are