Naked without a Frame

I had a dream

I became your unframed centerpiece

after you opened a drawer

took out scissors

and cut a dotted line across my chest

you carved out my heart

and left my lungs to their final breath

chose to not color by numbers

painted your favorite shades instead

then explained that you wouldn’t need

any hues of red. Something about

my heart’s desire for those strings

would come after for me

to backstitch what was left

but I must confess dear

I found nothing related to this

or love’s remaining threads

then you picked me up like a canvas

layered me like paper-mâché

commented how you like to use my heart

as your art because art is your escape

hung me on your wall naked, then left

after you told me, I should be displayed

and not just anywhere, a museum

is what I heard you say

but I dismiss that claim

because if that were true

you would have found the time to stay

or after hanging me naked

made the effort

to put me in a frame