Ashna Asim: Anastomosis
Anastomosis
he placed a heart in my hands
and asked me to name each blood vessel.
when I couldn’t find the words, he said:
“clearly, you don’t understand the heart”
and I thought there must be a metaphor in there somewhere.
he lined a row of hearts on the table
and told me I couldn’t leave until I could map
the coronary arteries
so I held each heart
one by one
traced the borders and grooves
held the dead weight in my hand
and felt nothing
but my steady pulse against its waxy surface
felt waves rising to my carotids
felt my head pulse with each ebb and flow
pictured myself plunging into circulation
following the tides of each vessel
like a stone smoothed by the ocean
letting myself wash away
Discussion Questions
What stood out to you in the poem? What did you come away from it with?
How do you interpret the title of the poem?
Reflections from #MedHumChat
“The existential & spiritual significance of holding a heart in your hands vs the analytical & scientific task of mapping blood vessels. It grabbed me right out of the gate.” - @allison_tandem
“What came to me was the disconnect between "understanding" the heart via anatomical understanding vs. 'understanding' via self reflection. It's the same way I felt I learned anatomy--trying desperately to connect the book learning to my emotional growth.” - @_mar_c_b
“...I think by giving her poem this title, the poet is reclaiming a word that had become co-opted by and dulled as medical jargon. Maybe the next time any of us come upon the word "anastomosis," we will think about this poem, these hearts, her heart.” - @annareisman
About this #MedHumChat
“Anastomosis” was paired with “Body of Work,” a book by Christine Montross for a #MedHumChat discussion April 17, 2019 exploring The Experience of Human Dissection in the Anatomy Lab.
The pieces for this chat, along with the discussion questions, were selected by Colleen Farrell.
About the Author
Ashna Asim (@ashna_asim) is a fourth year medical student at Queen’s University in Ontario. Her passions for stories and community service are what drew her to medicine.