Takotsubo

The trap is closed now,
The octopus caught,
Gutted and tenderized -
A pretty sounding word,
A stick,
Beating the pulp out of you,
Nonetheless.

Fill the pan with salted water -
The kind you rub in
To old wounds -
And bathe your grief
And it heats up fast.

Remove the senses,
Take out the eyes
Pry that beak off
And rip it apart.
Make the cut,
Make it quick,
Make it deep,
Make it stick.

Now prepare your table
And gather your food,
Put it together for
The one who'll come.
A meal for two,
You hope she'll love,
A meal for two,
But she doesn't show.
So tossed in the freezer
Like yesterday's leftovers,
You lie in wait
And die in silence,
Wondering if she came but left,
If she wanted to, but changed her mind,
If she ever wanted to at all...

Hope wilts away
In the morning's glare
With the spoils of your heart
In her upturned fist
The heart she'd once
Loved and valued and kissed -
Lies now, paralyzed:
A fragment of a future
Broken asunder,
A frozen reminder,
Of a formalized lack of union.