Character Autopsy
Another for Poppy's Prompts Thingo #6 - Stream of Consciousness-style, thought-provoking poem.
Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and thought
"I'd love to grip the top of my forehead, where my hairline begins,
and dig my nails deep into the epidermis,
and start carefully rolling that uppermost layer of protective casing away from the far more interesting flesh underneath?"
To bare yourself, quite literally, as a walking work of creation's art—
an autopsy showcasing the intricacy of the mechanics and machinations of your face. The skeletal structure, the fortitude of your jawbone—
and all that blood pumping through the labyrinth of vessels,
carrying the necessary oxygen and nutrients
to and from your heart to your brain and everywhere else?
Forget the scalpel. This is art, after all, not a medical procedure.
Could you perceive your character, what makes you—, just from the subcutaneous space within?
Peel away the skin of chest, abdomen, pelvis, and thighs
to understand the reasons, how's and why's?
Delicately strum the tendons and ligaments that hold together,
give structure to and connect—
muscle to bone and bone to bone
to find reason for actions?
Balladeer the arteries, veins, and capillaries of the heart
to tune into what makes you?
—
Soul and being, you can't perceive from the physical, exoskeletal alone.
Skin for skin, flesh for flesh, sinew, ligaments, tendons, and dripping arteries upon arteries—
organs and blood, oxygen, nutrients, and water—
no difference, no telling of the individual.
*
Thanks for reading!
Author's Notes: Had this thought gnawing away at me a little. Another Stream of Consciousness piece, more or less. For Poppy's Prompt's Thingo #6 using one word "autopsy".
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Paul Stewart
Award-Winning Writer, Poet, Scottish-Italian, Subversive.
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Comments (15)
This is incredibly raw and I admire it so much for that. The power in the vulnerability is insane. I can't explain why, but this line stuck with me the most: "Forget the scalpel. This is art, after all, not a medical procedure." So impactful. Really well done Paul.
We are all much the same I guess, but our spiritual selves are far more interesting, I think. A viscerally intriguing piece Paul!!
'Balladeer the arteries' -- looks like I've just learned a new verb! And no, it's never occured to me to have such longings, I prefer my skin staying where it is, lol
I love "strum the tendons" 😁
Echoing John on this! Literally no, metaphorically yes! Really like how you expanded the one word so thoroughly in such with such an intriguing concept
I haven't really thought about this, no. But now you triggered something and I can't stop thinking of how it would be to take off my skin. wow
I've always fantasised about tearing my skin off hehehehehe. Your poem was soooo profound, Sir Paul! 🍩🥐
I can honestly answer your question, no, I never looked in the mirror and thought ‘I wonder if I should flay the skin from my body to see what I look like underneath. But from a metaphorical perspective, I have engaged in personal dissection often. Wonderful poem about looking under the bonnet to see how we tick, Paul!
Balladeer? New for me. I wonder if we'd learn to recognise different people.
Hey there Pally Pal! How are you? Hope life is great! This piece just blew my socks off! I LOVE it! What a beautiful look at "us"! This was such an immersive experience to indulge in! :) Amazing work!
I think this is one of my favorite things that you've written! So visceral (and eviscerating).
I think your stream of consciousness might be forked, pal! Seriously, though, this is a great deep dive into what we are beyond flesh and bone.
But the beauty is more than skin deep, right? The eyeballs are a little hard to pluck out, I've suspected, so I stop before that.
I was a First Responder many years ago and while I had the privilege of taking care of the injured, I never thought of the human body in such a manner - until two years ago when my husband became ill and I had to learn more about our inner workings. Your essay is a reminder that as we age, we all must be aware of how "we work" to keep ourselves as healthy as possible. absolutely love this.
It's a rich portrayal of internal landscape ... and you have made a raw dissection of human psyche....truly thought -provoking ... it's a stream-of-consciousness style of writing .....I liked your poem...