Anatomy Lab (looks like this)

Six pairs of hands
descend upon
uncovered, untie, grease down, roll over
(un)prepare
a fresh body

new for us
old by any other standards

we set to work

and look like
hungry flies with
busy forelegs
eager to pick apart flesh
and reflect upon

our day’s work

it consists of
fat
fascia
mm., nn., aa., and vv.
fat
fascia
mm., nn., aa., and vv.
(repeat forever)

like fiddler crabs
ready to fight
weighed down with
Shearer’s, scalpels, rat-toothed forceps, and fatigue
you were my anatomy team

navigating hydra’s heads
breaking heartstrings
wielding shiny instruments – coracoid
we stayed
just long enough to see
an orange-pink fluorescence fill the room

dissection went like this

now we are
(in)experienced.

Cassie Frank, Class of 2007