empty silence

Have you ever listened?
To your heartbeat?
No—
I mean really listened:
Sitting motionless, breathless.
This is
all she hears,
all that she is allowed.
She cannot move,
breathe,
feel.
She must sit, afraid he will find her:
The shadow that hangs over her when she sleeps,
The belt that shatters the air
and her flesh,
The clenched fists that say you’re
nothing-
nothing.

And soon they will be right