Artery

Each acetate page in the manual
adds layers to the Visible Man: bright organs,
systems, intricate feathery networks:
skeletal, respiratory, circulatory.
Blue for veins. Red for arteries.

I peel gauze dressing from Isaac’s hip,
undrape the gaping window.
Position the catch tray. Dribble
peroxide from the bulb syringe
to clean the wound. A patient must

be turned, repositioned every
three hours. The time it takes for skin
to begin its breakdown. The red
bedsores caving in. The opening
that will not close, though we debride

twice daily. Isaac shifts in bed,
lifts the wasted leg. I watch
the ivory ball pivot in its
socket. The rubbery
artery draped over it, pulsing.

:: Ron Mohring, Beneficence (2003)