A cardio-vascular consultant
told me I had subtle abnormalities
of the heart: a tendency, possibly,
to soften too readily, be swayed
too easily, feed on fantasy, harden
like the Pharaoh’s; be of kings, of lead, of oak,
of darkness; bleed for my country, belong
to Daddy; be a lonely hunter;
be displayed on my sleeve; be in my mouth,
in the Highlands, left in ‘Frisco, buried
at Wounded Knee; like Luther’s, who feared his
was like a ship upon a stormy sea
driven by winds from heaven’s four corners.