poison heart

Ashley Vadner

i collect hearts like special edition coins. sugar cookie dough hearts, warm and sweet all the way through, soft enough to sink my teeth into. peach hearts, honeyed and pliable until the eventual core, a jaw-breaking pit, ridged with failed bite marks. coconut hearts, impenetrable and tough until they’re fractured, leaking sweet water, liquid to slide down my throat. i tear apart the hearts i don’t care for, digest them until they’re gone. i pocket the good ones, hold them close until they rot against my skin. i haven’t met one that doesn’t spoil in my grasp. i wonder what my own heart is made of. if i need to, i’ll keep picking, ripping, tearing,