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Humanities

Wild to our marrow

Kat Cameron
CMAJ September 30, 2019 191 (39) E1083; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.190702
Kat Cameron
Edmonton, Alta.
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an architecture of bone …

a branching network of nerves flickering …

Inside the human body lies a realm …

each of us, wild to our marrow.

(Robert Moor, On Trails: An Exploration, Simon & Schuster, 2016)

Lying cruciform on the exam table,

she asks, “If you cut off my leg, will that stop

the pain?” Her body destroying itself, diagnosis

unknown. Oxycodone, Percocet, Fentanyl —

cannot help her now. Alone

within an architecture of bone.

In the research lab, he measures reactions.

Whether she feels heat or cold on

her fingers. Is there sweat behind the knees?

Can she feel pinpricks on the soles? She is

unable to sit up without vomiting,

a network of nerves flickering.

The human body, a realm

still unknown, pathways

branching like a deep-rooted elm,

the gallows of Yggdrasil.

We navigate in darkness, systems collapse,

the body’s chaotic ecology.

Who sees the fall of every sparrow?

Within each of us, a horde

of microorganisms burrow —

wild to our marrow.

Figure1
Image courtesy of iStock.com/alex-mit

Footnotes

  • This article has been peer reviewed.

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In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 191 (39)
CMAJ
Vol. 191, Issue 39
30 Sep 2019
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Wild to our marrow
Kat Cameron
CMAJ Sep 2019, 191 (39) E1083; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.190702

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Wild to our marrow
Kat Cameron
CMAJ Sep 2019, 191 (39) E1083; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.190702
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