"I am Trying to Break Your Heart" [by Kevin Young]

I am hoping
to hang your head

on my wall
in shame—

the slightest taxidermy
thrills me. Fish

forever leaping
on the living-room wall—

paperweights made
from skulls

of small animals.
I want to wear

your smile on my sleeve
& break

your heart like a horse
or its leg. Weeks of being

bucked off, then
all at once, you're mine—

Put me down.

I want to call you thine

to tattoo mercy
along my knuckles. I assassin

down the avenue
I hope

to have you forgotten
by noon. To know you

by your knees
palsied by prayer.

Loneliness is a science—

consider the taxidermist's
tender hands

trying to keep from losing
skin, the bobcat grin

of the living.

From Dear Darkness by Kevin Young (Knopf, 2008)

Comments

[Grace Cavalieri]

Kevin Young did it! He broke my heart!

[Grace Schulman]

I'm struck by how he invents outrageous images for retribution, all of them exactly right. It's all too common to forget Kevin Young's poetic achievement while considering his public service to the art. His poem, "Crowning" is another marvel. Thanks for posting "I am Trying to Break Your Heart."