The Volume of the Heart under Revelation

"A much-loved grandfather who died peacefully surrounded by his family earlier this year has been identified as the knife-wielding “beast of Bondi” rapist who terrorised Sydney for 15 years." - The Times

One can't imagine how the grief
of sins ascribed to those
you thought you knew expands like steel
in summer heat, an Eiffel pose
of upset constancies.

The notion that you knew the man
who tossed you in the air
on golden sands, and laughing caught
you with a pair of coarse
and tender arms. A loving stare.

The same arms that were used
to pacify a prone victim,
perhaps on that same spot
you once recalled fondly.
Perhaps you hoped that hell was hot

before you knew that grandfather
would soon be domiciled there?
The human heart contracts
like water as the steel expands
in that same unforgiving heat.