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The Heart

The Heart (a primer for the layperson) It is smaller than you think, and not truly red, in spite of the blood, and lies not to one side or the other, or deep. All of the vows you've made were pledged more or less over upper left lung. In fact, it sits in the middle, neither forward nor brave, doing its small work. It is just hollow muscle that thickens when hurt, and writhes like a seizing cat when all is well. It lies in a pocket of yellow fat and a membrane called the "pericardium" or "around-the-heart," which should suggest how little imagination means to it. It beats downward, to the left, and not all at once: the atria first, then the wary ventricles. Bah- is the mitral, and BUMP the aortic valve filling with blood like tacking sails, Bah-BUMP, Bah-BUMP. Two sounds are normal, children have three; four always means trouble. There you have it. But try not to be bothered by facts, and if some fool should tell you you can't write poems about the heart or protein, or heaven, or your dead great-aunt, say: Nonsense. Stay ignorant enough and you can write about anything. Proclaim the heart shatters like jagged glass, is red as lipstick on a lady's slipper and trembles when we love. Tell them what our heroes, ignorant of anatomy, discovered in their chests. Tell them that to live we need that heart, too. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA American Medical Association

The Heart

JAMA , Volume 290 (4) – Jul 23, 2003

The Heart

Abstract

(a primer for the layperson) It is smaller than you think, and not truly red, in spite of the blood, and lies not to one side or the other, or deep. All of the vows you've made were pledged more or less over upper left lung. In fact, it sits in the middle, neither forward nor brave, doing its small work. It is just hollow muscle that thickens when hurt, and writhes like a seizing cat when all is well. It lies in a pocket of yellow fat and a membrane called the "pericardium" or...
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Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
0098-7484
eISSN
1538-3598
DOI
10.1001/jama.290.4.441
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

(a primer for the layperson) It is smaller than you think, and not truly red, in spite of the blood, and lies not to one side or the other, or deep. All of the vows you've made were pledged more or less over upper left lung. In fact, it sits in the middle, neither forward nor brave, doing its small work. It is just hollow muscle that thickens when hurt, and writhes like a seizing cat when all is well. It lies in a pocket of yellow fat and a membrane called the "pericardium" or "around-the-heart," which should suggest how little imagination means to it. It beats downward, to the left, and not all at once: the atria first, then the wary ventricles. Bah- is the mitral, and BUMP the aortic valve filling with blood like tacking sails, Bah-BUMP, Bah-BUMP. Two sounds are normal, children have three; four always means trouble. There you have it. But try not to be bothered by facts, and if some fool should tell you you can't write poems about the heart or protein, or heaven, or your dead great-aunt, say: Nonsense. Stay ignorant enough and you can write about anything. Proclaim the heart shatters like jagged glass, is red as lipstick on a lady's slipper and trembles when we love. Tell them what our heroes, ignorant of anatomy, discovered in their chests. Tell them that to live we need that heart, too.

Journal

JAMAAmerican Medical Association

Published: Jul 23, 2003

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