POEM: Strange Places Within You

Contributed by Olivia Ellisor, Literature major.

There are more microorganisms in your body than ‘you’ cells
And that should comfort you when you think you are alone.

The mites in your eyebrows and the bacteria in your intestines
Relieve you of the solidarity that you think you have
In the deepest corner of your bedroom
Where no one, not even the companions you keep
Around just to feel something,
Can find you.

Your skin is the largest organ in your body,
Covering every surface,
Replacing it’s entire self once a month,
Growing a new layer of you each
Time the moon makes it’s circle around us.

Your stomach is filled with hydrochloric acid,
But muscas coats the lining of the stomach,
Protecting it from itself,
And keeping you from digesting your own tissue.

Your brain is the mastermind behind it all,
Filled with blood vessels, nerve endings, and everything
You hold close to your heart,
And although it isn’t fully formed until you reach the ripe age of 25,
It’s storage capacity is virtually unlimited,
Giving you the space to be whoever you want to be.

You are filled with strange, wonderful systems
That all work together in a harmonious battle
To keep you safe, strong, happy, healthy.
Sometimes they break. Sometimes they bend.
Sometimes hair and bone grow inside tumorous glands
And your lymph nodes curse your name as they shrink into nothingness.

But most of the time, if not all of the time,
They pick themselves back up again,
By the skin of their teeth and the strength of their muscles,
And turn to face the sunshine with a grin that rivals your own.