Observational Studies

A poem about my obsession with my scientific knowledge, and one of the ways it affects me.

Cafe's crowded today;

So many beating hearts in a closed area of only around one hundred feet squared.

A woman scratches her face,

Tearing off layers and layers of her cheek's stratum corneum.

A young girl burns her tongue on soup.

It'll be a few days before her fungiform papillae return to normal.

A new couple kisses and smiles,

Their orbicularis orises puckering, and their zygomaticuses pulling up the corners of their mouths.

There is a low hum from the kitchen's machines.

My tympanic membranes vibrate at the same frequency of said noise.

I sigh, feeling a bit lonely in such a crowded place.

Everyone seems to be exchanging some type of contact except for me.

I simply observe, like I always do.

This is what my knowledge has done to me.

Author's Note

Most of my poems are probably going to have an anatomic or physiologic motif about them, sorry if that bores you. Can't help it; it's my thing :)

Reviews

[zainul]

Fabulous observer!
It's breakthrough work indeed!

[Physiology Fan]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you think so.

[DrD]

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this. I was impressed by the originality of it and the almost cute presentation of a normal, every day scene. You have brightened my day with a very, very worthy read.

[Physiology Fan]

Thank you very much. I enjoyed writing it as well. I really love combining my anatomical interest with writing. With one being an art, the other an exact science, it comes out with a pretty interesting result when put together. Thank you again :)

[M.M.I]

This was funny! I liked the anatomical descriptions. It really was refreshing. I just wish I knew what all those terms meant haha

[Physiology Fan]

Your stratum corneum are the millions of dead skin cells that make up the outermost layers of the epidermis. So when you scratch your skin, they come right off since they're dead and not vascularized. Your fungiform papillae are projections on your tongue that many of your taste buds are on. Your orbicularis orise is you lip muscles. You zygomaticus major and minor are muscles in your face, mots commonly used in smiling. And your tympanic membranes are you eardrums, which are actually thin membranes that vibrate at the same pitch of the sounds around you, which starts the process of sound traveling through your ear. There you go :)
And thank you!