when i die,
donate my body to science.
for perhaps i may be dissected,
by childlike hands and fresh minds,
whose shoes I once stood in.
open my body,
peel back the layers of fascia and adipose,
swallowed with that in which I lived for.
when they open my abdominal cavity,
may they learn my favorite foods,
the myeokguk i ate every birthday,
and my love for candies,
that painted my stomach red.
and in my spine,
they will see my uneven curved vertebrae.
count, T1, T2, T3.
number my past,
feel the tears i shed at 14,
pain i carried at 24.
when they see my tongue,
will they see my motherland?
the muscle of language atrophied, unused, dormant.
search for its memory,
deep under the epithelium of assimilation.
and when they open my heart,
all they will see is you, my love.
written in my myocardium is your name.
the trabeculae that hold your sweet words and sweeter memories.
their noses will be filled with nothing but peonies and green.
after, lay my body to rest in the earth.
so that as my flesh decays,
and becomes one with the soil,
i seep into the foods they eat,
water they drink,
air they breath.
so that my memories,
your love,
is passed on.
when i die,
let us nourish them.
Poetry Thursdays is an initiative that highlights poems by medical students. If you are interested in contributing or would like to learn more, please contact our editors.
Audrey Lyu is a first year medical student at Rush Medical College in Chicago, IL. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2023 with a degree in Neuroscience. You would find her making art or playing with her bunny in her free time. Audrey hopes to pursue a career in psychiatry.