The Dissected Graces in Florence.
Their torsos are sliced open
Revealing their livers &
Hearts & kidneys.
Intestines spill out of their perfectly
Made glowing wax skin.
Their faces are peaceful;
They wear pearls;
They lie on beds of silk.
They made these wax girls to
Teach us about God.
The eighteenth-century
Scientists declared that
The body is the mind of God.
The insides of the women show the
Divine power of healing.
Guts are holy.
In Antonello da Messina’s Crucifixion
Painting, I am the one on the right.
I am hanging like that,
My back is arched like that,
I am facing the real God,
I am unknown and will be forgotten,
But I am there, too, and my body is
Open to all the pain of life.
He ties me to the bed
& leaves me there.
I am revealed.
This is my preservation.
