All these parts that make
The human heart you’ve been
Learning their geography
And where to go next?
You know the route
He’ll take through skin
And the rough spreading
Of ribs and sternum zeroing in
Where he’ll touch your heart
As no one else has ever done
Save somebody who loves you
As Yahweh did in befriending Adam
Surgically removing and hold
This dear — then whisper:
Little lamb who made thee?

Stephen Rybicki is a poet and academic librarian on the faculty of Macomb Community College, and the author of the reference work, Abbreviations: A Reverse Guide to Standard and Generally Accepted Abbreviated Forms. He lives in Romeo, Michigan.

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Published in the June 1, 2018 issue: View Contents
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