A Child's Valentine
Thomas Lipschultz 11/20/00, 12/9/00, 12/12/00

without words
you fold me in half
and cut into me
a twisted parabola,
an uneven curve
imperfectly crafted,
a loving violation of
small scissor incisions
intruding into me,
my scathing screams 
imperceptible
to human hearing
as half of my being
is removed
and unfolded,
my broken heart lifted
to give to another,
words of love
smeared haphazardly
with crayon,
and the rest of me --
a sick square outline
around an empty heart,
the loveless remnants
of a torn and tattered body --
put out
like a dying fire,
discarded
like an old flame,
scrapped,
sacrificed,
sheared for the sake
of an unappreciative child.