open hearts

surging. 

an open heart with valves l u n g i n g

out of an old man reciting poetry

on Pike St.

to no one in particular

his face has been mangled

by too much definition;

surgically cut and tapered

by every expression he has

ever made.

he is a gallery of unfinished

effigies

of tire-irons welded together

dusting and rusting over

serving no purpose yet

much too massive to ignore.

this oblique obelisk triggers

and helps in developing

a sentient note

without the use of a metronome

fusing invisibly in public

with our open hearts

surging.