Artist: Jessica Rose Shanahan

[Annotation: I was having a terrible time figuring out what this card meant, and thus I could not illustrate it. Then one day, walking through the public library, I saw a woman with a tattoo on her neck: three swords piercing a heart! Delightful! After speaking with her, I wrote the following.]

The opposite of heartache
still is freedom.
It is the hand of the heart
that holds the blade.
And tho this heartache
is a necessary part of living,
it is also but a sign of holding on.
Release the blade.
Release the blade
and see what comes of love.
Release the blade and watch
the wings of your own heart
emerge like those of butterflies—
wings trapped within
some thin, translucent shell—
Release— and feel
the wings of your own heart
begin to beat—
Release and find—
Release—
It is holding on that brings
the only necessary hurt
of living.