Instructions for Holding a Heart

Use both hands,
even if it looks small.
Especially then.

Do not squeeze,
poke,
test its reflexes.
It’s not a trick muscle.

Keep it warm,
but not too close to flame.
It remembers burning.

When it trembles,
don’t panic.
They all do.
Just be still,
and let it find
its own rhythm again.

Do not fill it
with your own silence.
It needs space,
not emptiness.

If it cracks,
and it will,
don’t offer glue.
Sit beside it.
Hold the pieces
without pressing.

And when it shines
for no reason,
on no particular day,
look at it like
you’ve never seen
something so alive.

Because you haven’t.

Ryan Stone