I made a heart,
One that would not
Break or shatter so easily,
Like those glass ones
That seem to break
Upon every drop off.
I made a heart
Out of string.
One that would not
Shatter if dropped,
But instead,
Would bounce right back up.
Stitched each cavity myself.
Filled each with my love and soul.
Sewn together,
Part by part.

Testing to make sure
This heart would hold,
I put it through
My own tests,
Ones filled with love and torture,
Before anyone else got a chance.

Satisfied enough
With the holding and condition
The heart still was in,
Just slightly tarnished
But still taut,
I let it go out
To others I did not know
How they may care
For such a crafted gift.

The first few times
Going out on its own
To deal with another's care or affliction
Other than my own,
The dear heart only came back
Squeezed and squished
By the others unwillingness to
Let go
Nor allow the heart
They held so dear
Taken away.

That was okay though.
The squished shape made for
An easy fix.
A little tug here,
A little pull there.
And quite easily and quickly
The heart took back its shape.
Though not quite the same
As the original.
It still could be considered as so,
The heart made of string.

With a few more tries
Out the door,
In the hands of another
The heart returned
Stretched and weather worn.

The repairs were getting
Complicated by the adventure.
No longer was it just a
Pull here or there.
Now the whole heart itself was
Stretched more than
A simple wash could cure.
But the heart was not
Broken, or no longer functioning.
Instead the heart strained itself
So much,
Love radiated
Out to anyone
Within reach.

One day,
The heart found someone
To bestow its love upon.
The other accepted the love
Without question.
In return, they strived
To love the heart as equally
If not more.

But that only lasted for so long.
Slowly the heart began
Receive damage.
Thinking it was its own fault,
The heart would pull away some,
Which the other did not approve of.
So the other would hold clutch on,
Causing the heart to stretch more,
Ripping the seams and stitches.

Once regaining conscious
And returning to the
Present world,
The other saw the
Damage they wreak.
Feeling bad for what they done,
They attempted to fix the heart.

Problem,
The other possessed none of the
Skills needed to even attempt
Mend the heart.
Yet, they tried.

They brought the
Newly "repaired" heart
Over to its owner
To show how
Willing to fix the
Harm caused by their doing.

Looking upon the poor heart,
The owner saw,
In much disbelief,
How much worse
Of shape their
Gift held;
Ripped stitches
Tied in knots.
Seams sewn over crudely,
Colors no longer matching
And the original tears
Stuck out everywhere.
So the owner took
The heart back.
Trying themselves to fix
All the damaging repair.
Yet nothing worked.
Everything seemed to make
It so much worse.

Then another came along,
Whom the heart
Took a liking to.
Trying to tell the heart
Not to go after them
Due to the damage
Condition it was in,
And it needed a much
Deserved rest.
The heart did not listen,
It went to the other.
Though the other did
Not want the heart.
They told the owner
Their heart needed fixing
Before they were to give it away.

The owner had no clue
How to fix the heart.
They tried and tried
So many times,
All ending in failure.

Then the person,
The heart took a fancy to,
Came over giving a suggestion.
"Why not
Make a new one?"
Crazy much?
To craft a new heart
Would mean throwing out
The old one.
No longer would the heart
Be the same,
But something new,
Entirely different.
"Work on it piece by piece,
And with each new piece,
Fill it with the old.
So that way
The heart will still remember
Where it came from.
But will no longer
Feel like its
Held back by
Another's desolation
Once the wrecked
Parts are taken care of."

Splitting the heart up
Was the worst part
Of the whole process.
Taking apart each seam,
Provided tricky
For some were expertly put on
While the others were crudely made.
After undoing each part,
I set forth on making the new ones.
They turned out better
Then the first.
About to put the old
Shell within the new one
I was stopped.
"That was not what I meant.
Capture the old."
They took the filling form the old.
"And put it in the new."
Then placed it within the
Newly made heart.
"Now the rest is up to you."
Looking at what had happened,
I began to stitch the
New heart together.

This new heart was
Better than before.
This heart has experience
That was found in the old.
Yet still held all that it stood
For in the new.
Nothing was different,
Except that the
Heart no longer
Held back by the
Damage of others,
Could stand on its
Own.