He wanted to be an organ donor.
So I sat with his parents through
the excruciating phone call.
We’d left his blue and bloated body
at the hospital, a smear of holy oil on his forehead
Now here, around the kitchen table
we discuss that body’s 22-year-old parts:
heart valves, eye lenses,
bones, tendons, skin,
the parts of a drug addict deemed useful
to a wider society
still battling its injuries and diseases
unlike this until-lately child
stone-still on the hospital gurney
blood dried and crusted in the corner
of his open mouth.
His fight is over.
His body bound and burdened no longer
by the quick, hot high
With flickering hope for the 150
he could potentially help,
we endure the painful questions about needle use,
sexual habits, illegal escapes of choice,
past incarcerations
(the answer is 10 days)
47 minutes later the final word is:
Thank You.
But I’m Sorry.
Behind bars more than 72 hours,
This body is disqualified.
And the mother who bore its fragile, emerging frame
within, later upon, her own,
who poured out blood, water and milk
to build a growing bundle of valves,
lenses, bone and skin
not so very long ago,
who cradled his infant form in her arms to nurse him,
closes her eyes to speak:
“They can’t use it.”
“They can’t use any of it.”
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wonderful poem. Thanks for telling this story.
Thank you for this evocative telling of a sad story. In my work as a spiritual care provider, I am part of the organ donation team and frequently spend time with families who are jumping through all the time-consuming and grief-disturbing hoops in order to benefit others, only to see the process thwarted by something or other. Jail time is a new one to me, however. Well told.
Thoughts about full body donation? I recently filled out all the paperwork at OHSU and modified my Will. The lawyer said it was his first time dealing with someone who wants to give away their entire body. If the soul ensures, perhaps we should be discussing full body donation? The skin is the largest “organ” in the body and in great demand. Ironic, really, in this time of climate change and horrific fires in the Pacific Northwest. Radical love? Let’s do it.