If I had known her
I would have asked
How does a heart break

We are not born with excess bits and pieces
To be broken off
Given away here
Left behind there
Pressed between the pages of a favorite book
Like a flower barely resembling what it once was
Lifeless
A pale and dull hue of what should have been

Everything is so necessary
Codependent
The smallest absence can devastate
A tremor can take things away from you
The use of a hand
One side of your smile
Movement
Its skin cannot be too thin nor too thick
Nothing can stop its flow
What you fear most  begins with a pause

Did she hear a crack
Slowly feel its progression
Was it a soundless and instant slit
Like a paper cut
Or was it like the earth beneath her feet pulling apart
Was it seconds or days

Did she know that there were things that dull pain
Could she not have found another vice
Another love
Another obsession
But the heart cannot be mended without the body's reminder
   that something meant to be is missing
But in time...

If I had known her
I would have asked her why
Sister of my Soul
I would have told her that we are all broken
We would have taken her in
Shared our stories
Held her and made her strong

We would have quieted the voices of unfulfilled passions
Created intricate gardens of new dreams with a new body
   that could still dance in the meadow
To be purified by the hands of women would have been a soothing thing
We would have been her sanctuary

But I did not know her
Only her name
And that she was sinking
With a smile
And flowers pulled to her chest
The song that she hummed
Was the beating of her own heart
Giving out