Heartache 101 by Ann Iverson

When you first heard the news
you enrolled in Heartache 101
with honors earned an A.
A stellar student
had you become.

When you learned the news
again with more
you joined Heartache 102.
Add accolades and another A.
103 and 104
made you valedictorian.

But still you failed
the final test
without an answer
to the question:

What does the heart do
when it does not ache?

For we only know
what it does
when it does.

Ann Iverson is a writer and artist.  She is the author of  five poetry collections:  Come Now to the Window  by the Laurel Poetry Collective, Definite Space and Art Lessons by Holy Cow! Press; Mouth of Summer and No Feeling is Final by Kelsay Books. She is a graduate of both the MALS and the MFA programs at Hamline University.   Her poems have appeared in a wide variety of journals and venues including six features on Writer’s Almanac.  Her poem "Plenitude" was set to a choral arrangement by composer Kurt Knecht. She is also the author and illustrator of two children's books.  As a visual artist, she enjoys the integrated relationship between the visual image and the written image.  Her art work has been featured in several art exhibits as well as in a permanent installation at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital.  She is currently working on her sixth collection of poetry, a book of children's verse, and a collection of personal essays.