through the heart

we need to talk, she says
quietly
on the phone. there is a pause.
silence.
my breathing.
are you there?
i'm here, I tell her.
i'm listening.
I sit down.
we could do this in person,
she says.
no, I go to the window.
there's a bird
coming towards
the glass. seeing itself
in the reflection.
it veers away in time.
say what you need to say.
I tell her.
so she says
what she needs to say.
well thought out,
and practiced.
it's a gentle knife, a soft
cut,
but lethal and through
the heart.