Gross Anatomy

No one understands what I mean

when I say I cried the day I saw your hands

I thought I’d gotten to know you well, but I hadn’t.

No one understands what I mean

when I say I cried the day I saw your feet

or the day we each grabbed the piece of cloth, counted to three

I cried the day I saw your face for the first time,

the day I saw your eyes—

when I wondered what they had seen and who had loved them.

Now there is no going back to anonymity,

no storing feelings neatly on a top shelf out of reach—

no hiding from all that we are and all that we aren’t

or the one difference between you and me.

A piece about my experience in anatomy lab and my contemplation of mortality” – Hannah Erlbacher

About the Creator

Hannah Erlbacher is a first year medical student at the Carver College of Medicine.