Musings #42
COSMOLOGY OF THE BODY
– after viewing the Body Works Exhibition
What a surprise to see the liver large –
in size, the organ second only
to the skin, and more surprising still,
to find it high in the body,
lily pale. I had imagined it red,
livid with toxins, thought it
purified rage, set low
by the right hip – aching ilium,
one of life’s gates, and opposite
the bladder – mine, blooming tumors.
And so I imagined the liver, its ire
raised to shield me,
but overworked, its excess
run down my leg, stoking
a fire in my foot.
Now, knowing where this organ lives,
I see it well-placed in the chest
ungilded, hidden
but not hiding – its secret spill
fiercening
the green and tender heart.