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Today I’m learning
a new lesson —how
plants can look just
like organs, the part
of our bodies we know
and don’t know
So begins the poem “Anatomy in Nature” (Spring 2018 Intima) by writer Jesse Holth. In her stunning poem, the writer draws parallels between human organs and the surprising ways in which these forms are repeated in ecology:
How frond and fern
can be phalanges, just as
reaching, branching out.
Through collage art and poetry, a pathologist comes to understand that our anatomical selves are made up of the same building blocks that comprise all life on earth.
Read moreA former physician reflects on the rite of passage undergone by all medical students: cadaver dissections in anatomy lab.
Read moreA medical student examines the desensitization that imbues the study and practice of medicine—and advocates against it.
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© Pillar of Light by Jacqueline Pflaum-Carlson. Spring 2022 Intima
A writer and poet finds inspiration in the body’s architecture and corporeal underpinnings.
Read moreFor those with the privilege of having participated in a longitudinal cadaver dissection, the connection you build with the donor’s body is known to be a truly unique experience. That bond is part of what I attempted to capture in my poem “Through Damp Muslin.” Especially reflecting on how to express gratitude to the person who once was—and now who is, or at least whose body is—lying before you.
A medical student balances the duties of respect and learning in the anatomy lab.
Read moreThe fearlessness in this work will inspire others, and brings an essence of both respect and what is holy to what might otherwise be purely clinical.Read more
There is something very special about the poem “Breast Unit” by Konstantina Georganta, published in the Spring 2014 issue of Intima. This poem examines nature, and the human experience, through the lens of undefined moments. It has an almost scrap-like quality, with pieces embedded and skillfully woven throughout the narrative. In a way, it’s the opposite to my poem “Anatomy in Nature”published in the Spring 2018 issue of Intima. These poems are like two sides of a single coin. While mine works to pull the inside out, finding reflections of the human body, its inner workings and organs, in plants and nature imagery, Georganta’s work pulls the outside in – relating nature to us by anthropomorphizing, humanizing.
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Quisque iaculis facilisis lacinia. Mauris euismod pellentesque tellus sit amet mollis.