Surgery

Disclaimer: The following is a poem that uses hyperbolic and dramatic language to describe my experience with surgery in a creative way. If you are considering surgery, I suggest not reading the following text until after your surgery. I'd never discourage anybody from undergoing a medical procedure they may need.

Surgery

Stab me
Open my vein
And spill my blood
Capture it in your bottle
So that you can study it
And find the truth of my struggles
And my flaws

Disrobe me
Then dress me
in paper garments
Designed to permit you
Access to my body
And leave me vulnerable
To a world
That notices only in my mind

Take me
Wheeling me away
To your room
And your table
Where you want me to lay
And to submit
So you can do to me
What you'd never do
If I were awake

Interrogate me
Asking my name
And birthday
And why I'm here
And if I understand
What you're going to do to me

Cover my mouth
Then tell me to breath
As if that makes sense
Fill my lungs with oxygen
Then...with something else
Make my skin burn
But assure me it's okay
Before I fall into oblivion

Cut me
Again and again
Plunge your instruments
Into my body
Cut me more
With your robots
And your cameras
Their claws and cutters

Rip it out
Resect the bad parts of me
Cut it away and extract it
Leaving me with less
So that I may have more

Reconnect me
Fix what I caused you to break
Close up my blood holes
Staple me back together
So my body can learn
A new way to cope

Retrieve me
Back from oblivion
Into a world of consequence
Pain from all we have done
From goals achieved

Acquaint me
With catheters
And drains
And medicines
Filling my veins
And pain

Encourage me
To do my part
To get out of the bed
And walk
Through pain
And discomfort
Until my body
Starts to act normal
Again

Release me
Take your instruments
From my body
Give me my orders
And send me back
Out into the world
Free from my affliction
With scars and
Another chance

As mentioned in the disclaimer, the above poem is a characterization about a recent surgery that I am currently recovering from. I wanted to write something that describes the experience in a different way. To an extent, I wanted to hide all the emotion and care and highlight the raw actions of what we did. I say "we" because I want to acknowledge my part in in it. Surgery is an amazing thing and the people that carry it out are amazing people. I'm thankful for them, and I empathize to a physical degree what they did to me and for me.

What did you think of the poem? Are there any references you dont understand? Have you ever had surgery? How would you describe it?