Manuela Cardiga - Guilty Pleasures and Culinary Treasures

PLEASE CAN I HAVE
A PIGGY-BACK HEART
DR. BARNARD?

I seem to lack
some basic skill
For either
Love or life

It's no damn good
I seem do it
All wrong
Every time

I try (too hard)
I love (too much)
I live (too fast, or just
Not fast enough)

My fingers fumble
My timing sucks
My plans all fall
A-tumble

And yet I seem to be
Too stubborn
Or too stupid
To desist

So I go from beat
To beat on this
Dumb and deaf
Machine

And I ask
Myself
How long
Can it resist?

I listen for
A hesitation
On the thump-
A hint of failure
In the rhythm
Of the pump;

That tells me
I am getting
To the part
Where any heart
Will stutter-stop
Any faith wear out.

MC