Shahé Mankerian: Dear Teacher

Do not tell us about the ribcage

shielding the sinuous chambers

of Aristotle. He did not snuff

the internal lamp or allow

the woman’s heart to beat faster

than the man’s. Let the French

invent the stethoscope to avoid

placing the ear on the cleavage.

We've heard it before: "Grab

a tennis ball and squeeze it

tightly: that’s how hard the beating

heart labors." We’re more likely

to have cardiac arrests

on Monday mornings. You told us,
the heart rate of a horse mirrors

the human subject touching it,
then will a cracked mirror echo
the broken heart scraping it?

*Published in Altadena Poetry Review / Anthology 2015, this poem was nominated
for the prestigious Pushcart Prize in the same year.