Pendulum Heart (A Poem)

It swings so quickly back and forth,

First to the South, then to the North.

Oh, how I wish it wouldn’t sway,

And simply choose a place to stay.

But my awful pendulum heart,

Is slowly tearing me apart.

I feel it from the inside out,

From deep within and all throughout.

First it goes here, then it goes there,

Always changing, it’s everywhere,

But if I think, then I suppose,

That if it stopped and simply froze,

Then I would always be unwell,

Or I would feel forever swell.

And if I think, then I believe,

That isn’t really being free.

Fine, I’ll keep my pendulum heart,

Though it can hurt, it is a part,

Of who I am and how I’m me,

Of how I live and feel freely. 

-N. C. Raven

© N. C. Raven 2026