how many poems am i going to have to name this name?

veronica III (or more)

believe me, you are held--

a heart alone has no more to do

than hold a shadow,

cling

to an emotion

it once knew.

veronica,

i attempt

to break through--

to no longer sit

and suck the cloth

your face once fit.

veronica,

i don't find you

though i sort through

piled linen and lace

for that one dirty scrap--

leave me not

with nothing,

lady,

to wrap around

my hands

in this

pursuit

of a grotesque

self-

plundering.