Love Like Pluto

my grandmother says
I was born with a defective
heart and mouth
both too eager to please
and willing to receive
any crumb

no one taught me to love in words
to put limbs into motion
that matched this ache in my chest
no one pointed out midnight stars
promising to give me the moon
if I spun all these pretty little feelings
into something special for them

so I learned to love thru objects
inanimate beings who allowed me
to hold them when no one was watching

i have loved
the way unlocked doors do
kitchen light left on
dinner in the microwave
and is there anything
else you want?

loved like
keyhole
doorknob
there are so many
door frames
in me
begging to be filled
with a shoe
a brief case
someone’s end of day sighs
wanting to be held
like their carry all bag
full of all their loose ends
even the regrets.
give me all your extra weight
I will burst at the seams
and pour out your name

tell me,
how can I break
so that you never will?

what do you need me to be?
and I will
turn myself
inside out
a mismatched
sock of a heart
hum meaning into me
like a song
only you know the key to

and I will love you
like bridges
jail cells
empty birdcages
like Pluto
who
never belonged
but insisted on doing so

I am here because
I can be
and it gets
too cold
when someone doesn’t
touch me

I will love you
like runs in panty hose
the thinning thread
in the knee of your favorite jeans
scabs over mosquito bites
discovering god without the guilt
hiding in dark rooms
just to say your name to the shadows
to feel it cut slowly through me

I will
love you
like
you
forgot
to sow
me back up

because this is the way I was born love

loving
like
love was
the only
choice

I am an inanimate object
here to serve a purpose
to fill a need
don’t I look pretty decorating your life?

baby, I will love like
unlocked doors
purses that are too big
and full moons at 3 a.m.

and you
creature of tender feelings
and papier-mâché hearts
I know you also love
the way that I do,
tell me,
how long have you been
this curious little thing
loving the way
no one ever expected things to love?

freely