ASSIGNMENT IN PROGRESS FOR WHITE READING: 4TH PERIODDUE JANUARY 27, 2022
HEART TO HEART
by Rita Dove2004
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Rita Dove is a contemporary American writer. She is the second African American poet to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
As you read, take notes on how the author describes the heart.
It’s neither red

nor sweet.

It doesn’t melt

or turn over,

break or harden,

so it can’t feel

pain,

yearning,

regret.

It doesn’t have

a tip to spin on,

it isn’t even

shapely —

just a thick clutch

of muscle,

lopsided,

mute. Still,

I feel it inside

its cage sounding

a dull tattoo:

I want, I want —

but I can’t open it:

there’s no key.

I can’t wear it

on my sleeve,

or tell you from

the bottom of it

how I feel. Here,

it’s all yours, now —

but you’ll have

to take me,

too.

"Heart to Heart" from American Smooth by Rita Dove. Copyright © 2004 by Rita Dove
5.What is a theme in the poem? Use evidence from the poem to support your answer.