Excitation of entering the medical field ripples through the small crowd

          bright eyed, bushy tailed students

The first time a scalpel will be held

          flesh will be cut

          and the body explored 

ANATOMY LAB

          a time-honored tradition and institution in medical education

Though a tradition not without its questionable moments

          medical education has come a long way from grave robberies

          papers signed, consent obtained, bodies given away

While I try to honor these wishes by learning my best

          i cannot help but think it is unnecessary for me to do so

Unnecessary for me to peel back the skin from someone’s face

          that is still someone’s face

          leaving the eyelids, nose, lips, and ears

Unnecessary to remove the intestines from their rightful place

Unnecessary to divide the genitalia down the middle

Unnecessary to bisect and trisect something meant to be whole

Unnecessary to take a hammer and chisel to the eye socket

          and worse yet pluck out the eye as it stares back at you

Unnecessary to disarticulate the head from the neck

          a crack that will always be ringing in my ears

          though not tinnitus

Seeing the path of the recurrent laryngeal nerve seems like a shallow consolation prize

          but I try to learn

          to do right

Though I cannot remove the scent of formaldehyde from my nose nor conscious