Apathetic James Nysse

APATHETIC

James Nysse

The embalmers then removed the organs of the abdomen and chest. . . They left only the heart in place, believing it to be the center of a person’s being and intelligence. Smithsonian - on Egyptian Mummies

And when I removed the dusted lid of the sarcophagus, I saw my own face, my own body.

I was scaled and grotesque. My face - silenced and armored by torpid rags.

I found my heart in a jar near the back wall, black and shriveled.

Who had removed it?

Why was it removed? I walked some endless miles away from my desert carrying my body on my back.

In a bubbling spring I dropped my black and shriveled heart, where sparks gathered to embrace it.

I felt the earth crack and groan as my heart began to pulse and bleed.

I watched myself pull the rags from my eyes and mouth and took a long - new - breath.

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