Here is my response to Write Better Poetry's prompt to write a poem with the title "Heart of the _______":
Heart of the Museum
I remember being awestruck at eight,
walking through the Giant Heart,
100 times normal size, as if I were
a blood cell, passing through its chambers,
up, around, through and down,
to a natural bass, the original beat,
a deep thump of contracting muscles.
A marvelous construction of paper mâché,
chicken wire and wood, it’s now solid fiberglass,
and a fixture at the Franklin Institute
here in Philly for over 70 years,
literally a rite of passage for any schoolkid,
and countless adults too.
Millions of visitors have pumped through it,
and will continue to do so,
then circulate through the other exhibits,
and out the doors and into
the bloodstream of the world.
walking through the Giant Heart,
100 times normal size, as if I were
a blood cell, passing through its chambers,
up, around, through and down,
to a natural bass, the original beat,
a deep thump of contracting muscles.
A marvelous construction of paper mâché,
chicken wire and wood, it’s now solid fiberglass,
and a fixture at the Franklin Institute
here in Philly for over 70 years,
literally a rite of passage for any schoolkid,
and countless adults too.
Millions of visitors have pumped through it,
and will continue to do so,
then circulate through the other exhibits,
and out the doors and into
the bloodstream of the world.
If you are a fan of the comedy series Abbott Elementary, set in a elementary school in Philadelphia, you may remember that in their Season 2 finale they took a school field trip to the Franklin Institute. The episode was shot on location (the first time they actually did that in the series), and you can see several areas and exhibits in that episode, including the Giant Heart. Here is a photo of it. (It will be closing on May 6 for six months of renovations.)
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