The Widows' Handbook: Poetic Reflections on Grief and Survival

Salvage

22 the widows’ handbook Salvage Jessica de Koninck To reverse prolapse surgeons hold up the bladder with the skin of a cadaver. Science stitches up what gravity pulls down. Cadaver… More genteel to say organ transplant better to say donor. Distasteful discussions of corneas, skin, lungs, heart. The cash and carry business that goes on at night might get detected. But with casket closed what goes unnoticed goes unnoticed. Picked clean as a car abandoned in Camden. Hubcaps, headlamps, grill work for sale. The business of leftovers, like the time we unearthed a steering arm and hood latch for the Renault at a junkyard outside Worcester. Kept that old hatchback running. So at the funeral home I never checked. bereft, mourning 23 I did not ask to look. With no formaldehyde, wax or makeup, a night and a day would only make things worse. To the end your skin remained taut, unblemished, youthful. Cancer and infection rot from inside out. Your organ donor card’s a useless stub. I did not want to look at you. Contaminated not even good for parts. ...