Issue Twenty-Nine - Winter 2017

Ribcage

By Megan Leahy

The ribcage was invented to wrap around soft organs that breathe,
To curve like elephant tusks beneath the skin,
Supported by knotted vertebrae.
The ribcage was invented to be flexible,
To bend with cartilage, to seldom break.
The ribcage was invented to shield the contracting heart
As valves snap shut like doors and the chest beats within itself.
A bird’s ribcage is hooked like linking arms;
A snake has hundreds of ribs; a frog has none.
The ribcage was invented by calcium in the earth’s crust,
To wrap around soft organs that breathe.

Copyright Leahy 2016