by Jordan Dawson

I was searching through my body
and came across my lungs.
They were mostly strong and healthy
but also very young.
Since it was here that I discovered,
I assumed that I was smart…
For when I felt the beating pulse,
I thought it was my heart.
It was here I set up camp
and invited you to come.
When you did, my lungs, they breathed,
my journey had begun.
We jumped and played and set a fire,
and then we danced around.
The soft pink lung knew more than I
for it now felt like solid ground.
I scanned the surface only to find
a mass of puncture wounds.
The wounds ran deep and there sprung a leak
with panic to follow soon.
You had to go and this needed fixed
But now I could only mumble
The pink was black, I could barely breath
The damage was irrevocable.
It was then I saw one hole
that brought a flashback of your shoe…
The spikes were on the bottom
I remembered and then I knew.
You killed my lung on purpose,
thinking it was my heart.
But that was what I’d told you,
again thinking I was smart.
And soon you came right back
with a hug and a strip of tape
You took the time and patched the leak
before it was too late.
Then you had to leave again
I guess I should have known..
The spikes had still been on your shoes,
and new leaks had begun to grow.
So when you tried to come back again
because you always do.
I put up a “no spikes” sign for
those had been your only shoes.
The doctor came and said that I
should patch up every hole.
Some new friends without spikes stopped by
bringing tape by the roll.
They patched my leaks and held my hand
through all the operations.
You always watched, I’m sure you did
with a look of contemplation.
Lucky me, it was just one lung
I have been supplied with two.
My heart, though, is still fully intact
which is unlucky for you.
But since my lungs had been so young
it was hard for me to tell.
All my organs looked the same inside,
but I guess I’m young as well.
And maybe someday I’ll take someone
on the journey to my heart.
I got so lost with you and my lung, though,
I wouldn’t know where to start.
And for now at least I know
that I am able to discern…
Between a heart and a pair of lungs
It’s a lesson we all must learn.