Given this unique gift
from which we unzip the jacket of flesh,
peel away with reverent care,
lift the lid and peer inside,
reach down through layer after layer of tissue,
uncover surprises hidden there.
We tune in to the interplay

between the organs of the body
bribing each other into staying alive.
Blood rushing to vital places.
We see how vulnerable our structure -
the way the delicate bones are laid,
how muscles join forces to maintain the range
of motions in the joints and limbs.

Our insides lubricate, bathe themselves
in complex juices sluicing through
sophisticated self-cleaning
machines, interconnecting webs
of mystery. Dark success
of flesh and bone we'd never noticed,
this knowledge filtering through our brains
on its way to our healing hands.