Heart to Heart

A central symbol throughout the poem is that of the feeling heart. After attempting to define the heart, the speaker concludes in the first stanza that the heart “can’t feel / pain, / yearning, / regret” (Lines 6-9). By claiming that the heart cannot feel, the speaker argues that the heart is “just a thick clutch / of muscle” (Lines 14-15) that cannot “break or harden” (Line 5). The symbolic, feeling heart is an idea that the speaker refutes again and again because it is this heart that the speaker can neither access nor understand. Even though the speaker admits that they can feel it (“Still, / I feel it inside” [Lines 17-18]), because the speaker cannot open it (Line 22), they cannot understand what this feeling means.

As a symbol, the feeling heart is the main source of frustration in the poem. It stands for much beyond itself—for the speaker’s ability express their feelings to the second person (“you”). Being unable to openly share their feelings or be themself, the speaker is at a loss for how to relate to the “you.” “I can’t” (Line 24), the speaker states, “wear it / on my sleeve, / or tell you from / the bottom of it / how I feel” (Lines 24-28).