Fatima-Ayan Malika Hirsi

I typed 700 zeros
before the box would allow no more.
I pasted into Word and reviewed character spaces.

This is how I found out
how many characters the box allows.
Now, how do I quantify a heart? You left me 85.

Does this mean you are someone
who sees me online and likes the screen
version of me, or do you know the deepest parts

I leave unsaid? That’s the most powerful
version of acceptance. 85 hearts from someone
who knows me—those are real hearts I can return.

*

It wasn’t until I came
to Texas that the word love was thrown
around like a ball to be caught by the closest body.