Heart to Heart

“Heart to Heart” begins through negation or describing what the heart is not: “It’s neither red / nor sweet” (Lines 1-2). Immediately, the speaker rejects these ideas as misconceptions and continues, “It doesn’t melt / or turn over, / break or harden” (Lines 3-5). Playing with the concept of cliché, the speaker claims that such figurative descriptions do not apply; all this distinct diction (“melt” [Line 3], “break” [Line 5], “harden” [Line 5]) is related to clichés or colloquialisms about the heart. However, by looking at the heart through the lens of biology—ultimately the lens of the literal—the heart is anatomical and can do none of these things.

“Heart to Heart” is a poem built on reasoning. As the speaker tries to understand the heart and its workings, the first stanza is a conditional statement: If the heart cannot do any of these metaphorical things, then “it can’t feel / pain, / yearning, / regret” (Lines 6-9). Through logic, the speaker claims that the heart is merely an unfeeling muscle: The first stanza inaugurates a staunch, unyielding literalism that will carry to Line 16.

Line 10 continues this list of description by way of negation, stating “It doesn’t have / a tip to spin on, / it isn’t even shapely” (Lines 10-13).