Human Heart
By Valsa George
What incredible wonder is the human heart!
The great powerhouse that stores up blood
Through pipelines of arteries and veins
Blood is pumped unceasingly from head to foot
The most vital organ, so integral to keep us alive
The great fulcrum of the human machine
That works incessantly day and night
Neither taking rest nor seeking respite
Even within the mother’s sequestered womb
To its ‘lub dub’ music we are so well attuned
Being fragile with delicate muscles and tissues
It is incarcerated in the fortress of the sternum and ribs
It can withstand many a storm and whirl
But may break through splintering worry and woe
By defiance if on any day, it goes on strike
Alas! All our body functions will come to a halt
Though a sinewy piece of fibrous flesh
Not bigger than a man’s closed fist
It is the seat of umpteen thoughts and emotions
Spacious enough to give habitation to many
A wondrous magic casket holding love and hate
A pouch that can contain so much of treasure
A sponge that can absorb so much of pain
A hidden cave to stash away so many secrets
So deep and vast as a fathomless sea
So full of spiraling eddies and currents
Who can fathom its horrendous depths?
Who can explore its hidden recesses and crevices?
At times it lies still like a silent lake
Placid and unperturbed without even a ripple
At times boils and spills with emotions and feelings
Pounding like lashing waves of a stupendous sea
Sometimes like a swift bird in flight
It takes off on wings to alarming heights
Or like a gambler’s horse on the race track
It keeps galloping in lightning speed
Sometimes it is hard and resistant as a rock
Insensitive and unfeeling as a clump of wood
There is nothing greater vouchsafed to man
Than the gift of an ever loving palpable heart!