Do not remove the heart.
Extract the brain through open nostrils,
but leave the paradise within
my heart of hearts.
It is a point
so hot it would burn your fingers.
This pulse-point is the drum of Shiva
calling Shakti
–and when she dances
my heart rises to the doorway
to that small ether which conceals
a Spirit so vast the universe
cannot contain it.
There is a pulse-point
in my heart no perfumes reach.
From here the shadows of God have descended
to form/reform my body.
Draw out the guts.
Fill the great cave with sweeter things.
Do not remove the heart.
