Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Eden Almasude

  • Pathology

    Eden AlmasudeMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States Sipping Scotch and watching fava beansSpurt new life from the earthI ruminate:a dead man’s ribcage, mutilatedThe skin of his scalp,Limp without a skull beneathfor: science and medicine?Or curiosity?I smell the morgueIn sweat from my run and wonderhow he can rest in peacewhen his lungs are sliced,his brain in a bucket,tissue ready…

  • Scotch

    Eden AlmasudeMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States I don’t remember your name,Only fasciculating musclesbeginning to wasteNerves with unknown lesionsA toe up, a reflex downThe neurologist quietly notes,Bulbar involvement entails a poor prognosisMeaning: if you can’t talk, you can’t breatheEach new symptom forebodingSlow, stepwise deathWe turn to count,atrophyspasticityhyperreflexiamapping neuronsalong the examWe fixate to push awaythe realization,this kind, tattooed bikeris…