From Death, Life

by William Lain

From Death, Life

In the chilled stillness of the anatomy lab,

we met our first patients,

silent, generous, and unnamed.

Their bodies no longer carried breath,

but they bore the blueprint of life itself.

Dissecting was more than exercising precision;

it was an act of reverence.

We split flesh and traced vessels,

we uncovered far more than muscle and nerve.

We found the architecture of sacrifice.

The quiet humility of a final gift.

They gave us their bodies,

so we might better understand others.

Their death did not end a story;

it was the beginning of ours.

From death, life.