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.