half my heart

set free by love, like aretha
seventeen
by the cigarette in his mouth
by his mouth as he'd sing


driving north on the 1
to his house
in the heat

glasses secured with dental floss
fingers tuning strings

i miss half my heart
tucked in his glove compartment

half my heart
next to a carton of disintegrating chesterfields

half my heart loyal to our love only for the classic
only for each other
only for the summer

my compass points irreversibly toward
his smile

still the north star, still the sun
still the brightest thing i've ever seen

still my best friend, still my only friend
still mine and
still his

the best thing perhaps ever to happen to me
still half my heart