I’ll start with what is most raw

My family is approaching the first anniversary of a nearly fatal accident. Did you know that a rock can lacerate the liver while leaving the skin mostly intact? Skin is tough, organs not so much. Surgeons opened my husband in order to stop the internal bleeding. It was his clothing, packed into a plastic hospital bag, that broke me out of shock. I share this not because my individual experience is so important in the greater world, but because shock is human. I hope that by bringing forward my experience, you can reach into yours.

Objects help us remember significant events, and grasp traumatic ones. Was there ever an object that pulled you fully into reality, or sparked a poignant memory?

Listen to the audio recording of my poem “Patient Belongings” below.