Ways To Get Over A Broken Heart
Inspired by Carlos Antonio Rancano’s Evidence Or How To Get Over A Broken Heart
I.
Get lost in the woods.
Scream at the trees
and the goddamn birds.
II.
Drive cross-country.
Don’t stop for gas.
Finish the journey on foot.
III.
Sob.
Sob until God fears
you’ll one up His flood.
IV.
Go to Costco.
Eat samples.
All the samples.
V.
Jump in the deep end of a pool
fully clothed. Sink to the bottom.
Stay until you feel the choke.
VI.
Go to the beach.
Read The Awakening.
Never enter the ocean.
VII.
Reach into your chest,
pull out the heart shards.
Drop them in the disposal.
Flip the switch.
VIII.
Remove the remnants
of Cupid’s fucking arrow.
Use the art of Kintsugi
to meld a stronger heart.
IX.
Repeat as needed.
Dustin Brookshire’s chapbooks include Never Picked First For Playtime (Harbor Editions, 2023), Love Most Of You Too (Harbor Editions, 2021), and To The One Who Raped Me (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2012). He is the co-editor of Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville Publishing, 2023). Find him online at dustinbrookshire.com