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Poem of the Week
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Some lawyers write poetry, some poets are sailors, some
sailors were lawyers. Working in the laboratory, I was once
struck by the lyrical sound to the words that described the
substances in the gall bladder. To my ears, "bilirubin"
sounded like the name of a jazz singer from the 1940's.
When I remarked about the idea, everybody in the lab, strangely,
agreed.
Bilirubin
Bilirubin sings the blues
down low beneath the liver,
through intertwining ducts
where gallstones bump and grind
to the rhythm of
cholecystekinin chimes,
the stomach bubbles percussion,
and drops of bile play fiddle
way down inside the ileum,
Bilirubin sings the blues
with lyrics known by heart
feeling mesenteric rhythms,
within the hidden viscera.
Bili sings the blues
on a stage set on epithelia,
Bilirubin sings as gallstones frolic
and cholesterol
takes the credit,
Bilirubin sings the blues
down low beneath the liver,
when Bili's finished singing
the cells tinkle their goblets.
Glen Wheeler
Vancouver |
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