We planted a beating heart
beneath the floorboards
to remind us of what
it sounds like to be human.

For the days when I
take aim at your soul
for making a mistake.

For the days
when you do the same.

We are hypocrisies.
I’ll ask forgiveness
for the same sin I chastise you for.

And you will do the same.

But the beating heart beneath the floorboards
is loud enough

to remind us of all the ways
we are the same.

Products of a past we cannot shake.
Breathing and growing between
all the moments and people

who love us and hurt us
in ways that remain stitched to our skins
long after the pain dies.

You are a bleeding planet
With enough to be mad about

I am the same.

And we forget.

We forget to be the kind of softness
we have always dreamt of feeling.

Anna Corniffe is a 20-something year old Jamaican writer, obsessed with braiding words and memes. Her first book of poetry (Heavy Crowns) is currently available on Amazon. Catch up with her on her social media pages (Instagram & Twitter – @theannacorniffe)