Translating the Body
Our organs sing in different keys
like sirens in a sea of blood.
The body feels before it knows.
Easier to read disease in leaves
drooping from unseen root-rot or mold.
The body feels. Before it knows
rain’s coming, it’s sensed in the bones
or in vessels flooding the head.
Our organs sing in different keys:
major for liver and lungs;
minor for tonsils and thymus gland.
The body feels before it knows
the language of dormant cells
awakening, spreading like jimson weed.
Our organs sing in different keys,
shipwrecked in growing storms —
defiant and desperate for places to hide.
Our organs sing in different keys
the body feels before it knows.