I burrowed, filled with inertia, into your
aorta and was surprised to find a red,
deeper than any shade known, a primordial
color, like the life some god injected into
the core of the earth, consistency like mud.
When I emerged from inside your heart,
the stain turned brown. Not a deep, earthy brown,
but rotting, rancid shades to remind
me how I damaged your ventricles.
-Original poem, property of Amanda Steele, 2017
Amanda Steele 