Rope

The aortic rope
The lifeline line
Tied tight to my spine
With a sailor’s knot
Not easily untangled
Pulls me up
Drags me to work
Then home
And back again
It steadies me
It sustains me
It binds me

And I wonder
What a swift slice,
Freeing me,
Would do.
How the freedom of everything lost
Then, the freedom of nothing to lose,
Bloodless freedom,
Would feel

My hands grasp
Clenching
Unclenching
Clenching
And I pray
The ropeburn will mask
The ache