“Heart in Prose” by Diana Kurniawan

Slits of red flesh gaping open

My heels a working specimen

Day’s toils and night’s labors

Kept me with food and housing

My mind saw his hands 

Twisting my neck and clenching 

Gaped open my legs with his

Kept me with tears of daily memory

Hands of mine never knew this

It only knew work and touch

My brain sent signals of pain

It stroked my forehead wiping sweat

Evening, I soaked my legs in my bath

All of my tensions pray for release

My mind saw his words, slut

I realized I was never one to myself

I blew bubbles with my mouth

Anxiety came in spurts then gone

I saw my body working and healing

My mind will catch up soon after

My eyes sources of light from darkness

They want to always laugh as I sobbed

My tension eased as each tear flowed

My muscles under the bath easing

My mind and heart concocting space

Where I put treasures of sunshine

Sunflowers imagined for forgiveness

Blue skies and white snow for faith 

About Diana Kurniawan
She/Her/Hers

Diana Kurniawan is a poet and writer based in Berthoud, Colorado. She graduated with a Master in Public Health in Epidemiology from the Loma Linda School of Public Health and also graduated with a Master in Public Administration in Gender Based Violence Prevention and Non-Profit Management from the University of Colorado, Denver, School of Public Affairs. She has bylines with Denver Life Magazine, Longmont Times Call, and Denver Voice for her non-fiction pieces, and Twenty Bellows and Sortes Magazine for her fiction short stories. Her most recent poem will be published in Spring 2023 by the Eastern New Mexico University, Ridgeline Review Magazine.