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PN Review 275
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This poem is taken from PN Review 91, Volume 19 Number 5, May - June 1993.

Four Poems Sophie Hannah

SECOND HELPING OF YOUR HEART

I

I can't remember saying that I wanted this,
But these things happen. (Enter other platitudes.)
I was your midnight scrap. You left your haunted kiss
On my cold lips, without once changing attitudes.

A woman packs a suitcase in the south.
Calf-muscles ache. She may be feeling old tonight,
Or be in bed. Her understudy's mouth
Treats dirty fag-ends like small bars of gold tonight.

I can't remember mixing the ingredients.
Did I or did I not play any part in this?
(Enter a childhood training in obedience.)
Is there a second helping of your heart in this?

The inefficiency of most removal men
Is something that you cannot bear to think about.
Why I should bother chasing your approval when
I disapprove is something I must drink about.
...


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