Tag: anatomy

What the Stethoscope Hears.

What do I hear when I bringΒ youΒ to my ears?

WhatΒ story does your body unveil?

I hearΒ your heart,
the clap of eachΒ valve,
sloshes of vigorΒ fromΒ lumen

toΒ chamberΒ to reveal
resilience andΒ strength.

I hearΒ your lungs,
the whisperΒ of bronchi,
each crackle, each wheeze
unearthedΒ withΒ yourΒ breaths
to exposeΒ a hundredΒ secrets.

I hearΒ yourΒ bowels,
the timbre of thatΒ song,
divulging theirΒ activity
to massageΒ aΒ burden

through labyrinthine depths.

I hearΒ your thyroid,
the swooshΒ ofΒ velocity,
fluidΒ chasedΒ through vessels
to evokeΒ visions of an
overzealousΒ organ.

I hearΒ your liver,
aΒ resoundingΒ echo
againstΒ my fingers,

betraying yourΒ history
by disclosure ofΒ itsΒ girth.

So what do I hear when I bringΒ you to my ears?

I hear theΒ story that isΒ your life.

β€’

Cadaver.

Tendons, vessels, muscle, bone-
little more than its sum, alone.
Without life, alone.

A heart upon your fingers,
fibers smooth,Β firmness lingers.
AΒ pump sleeps, alone.

Nerves, severed andΒ denuded,
shimmering, taut, function diluted.
Pain without feeling, alone.

A lung, delicate sponge, blackened,
absorbsΒ an essence, greyed, maddened.
Vacant sacs, stale breaths, alone.

The cerebrum, split,Β its valleys and mounds,
embodies a soul, full, without bounds.
My lifeless beingΒ is nothing alone.