Inside A Heartbeat
by Pris Campbell
I shiver, naked under my cellophane raincoat,
walk in traffic, weave down city streets,
hope this wanton behavior will
flush out a sexy hero,
wherever he may be hiding.
A bum on the street corner
hands me a blanket and cardboard box,
never blinking an eye at puckered nipples,
never noticing we sit alone in the rain, or
that the silence surrounding us
is like the inside of a heartbeat.
Author’s Comment: Sometimes we all feel desperate enough to try anything to get what we feel we need. Maybe it’s not walking nude in a cellophane raincoat but the feeling is similar, nevertheless. The woman in this poem doesn’t find what she set out for, but rather a tramp in a cardboard box, an angel in disguise, perhaps, who offers her a warm place. A person who doesn’t take advantage of her desperation. Someone who gives her a chance to slip into the heartbeat of a wider kind of love.
Bio: Pris has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize. She has five poetry collections to her credit. A former Clinical Psychologist, she was sidelined by ME/CFS in 1990. She makes her home in the greater West Palm Beach , Florida , with her husband and three pets.
Wild Goose Poetry Review 
I ejoyed your poem, thank you for writing it. An unexpected angel in disguise.. I like that idea!
I also have ME/CFS and am still hoping to be a clinical psychologist one day.. if body allows!
Kitty x
Pris, this really touched me, as did your author’s comment. Made me shiver too with gratitude to the Universe for unexpected rescues.
Kitty, thanks for your feedback. I hope you can follow your dream, too!
Love your last two lines, Pris.
Pris, many of your poems have those last two ‘killer lines’, and this poem is no exception – as helenl points out. You have the uncanny ability to produce poems which make us confront ourselves and our inner fears; this apparently simple poem turns out to be quite complex, requiring re-reading to extract the full meaning.
Helen and Geoff,
Thank you so much for responding and your comments about the closing lines.
Barbara,
Your comment somehow sneaked in after I’d first responded and I just saw it. Thanks…and yes, isn’t it wonderful when what we need pops up in the most unexpected places??
Enjoyed your poem, Pris and really liked the extra commentary on this one 🙂
Pris, this is one of the most compact and telling poems I’ve read in a long time. Thanks for the amazing tenderness.
Jessie and Maren, thank you so much for taking the time to both read and comment.