Heartbeat

by Melanie Choukas-Bradley


My heart sloshes like a clogged drain
On the echocardiogram
As I lie on my side gazing at the Black Hills
On a map placed to distract old hearts during testing

The doctor tells me
That one of my valves is like a rusty gate
And I have right bundle branch block
As twisted as it sounds

May this heart carry me along
For a few more years
Perhaps with the aid of a surgeon’s scalpel or pacemaker, or better, on its own

Last week your mom sent me a recording of your heartbeat, little one
Beating with tiny confidence into an uncertain world
Hearts coming, hearts going, the beat as everlasting as we hope it to be


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Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a naturalist and award-winning author of seven nature books, including City of Trees, A Year in Rock Creek Park, Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island and The Joy of Forest Bathing. She began writing poetry during the pandemic and had the good fortune to discover Beate Sigriddaughter’s Writing in a Woman’s Voice. The site has featured many of her poems, including “How to Silence a Woman,” “If I have loved you,” and “The Water Cooler,” which won Moon Prizes. Her poetry has also appeared in New Verse News.