The wound is healed, new skin

grown and you cannot see

the join, where the ribs were exposed

to the harsh light of the surgeon’s eye

in the centre of his forehead, bones

but no muscles, convulsing, pumping,

in and out, in and out

watered down blood

now coursing through proper veins

and on time, you cannot see the join,

but I can, I still feel the tick

of the open pulse, I see the pain

of open heart surgery before me

and left exposed for a month,

now the skin is healed

but I see the wound still bleed.

Ian D. Hall 2018