The Myth of the Ib

When I told him they would cut my kidney out,we made jokes of it, neither of us sayingwhat both of us thought, that if onlywe could live without the heart instead, or could take

the hearts of the dead, make them work inside of us—because we'd made such shit of oursand were ashamed. He reminded mesea stars can grow new arms when one is lost.

Egyptian myth tells us the heart is madefrom a single drop of mother's blood during conception.He told me it would be okay, laughed about dying,and we agreed the blood in our hearts had been tainted,

that we'd have to live broken, we'd never be starfish.Before they scalpeled the kidney out, I searched a scanon a lit wall in the hospital room, the organ glowing in its torso,an electric yellow donor body, perfectly lopsided.