Matt Sutin - December 2007
 
THE BUREAUCRACY OF THE BODY

 
 

Chuck was chopping carrots for the union pot luck
eyes closed to the slow roll of Sinatra he sliced his finger.
A message of pain was invoiced to the brain  

but the nerves lost the rubber stamp and the synapses refused to cooperate
the knife continued to slice the finger with the head (like Frankenstein's) detached from the situation. 

The nerves tried to circumvent the system
bringing the message to a neuron boss who was busy trying to get through
to the intestines who were on strike because of a contract violation
chanting, “we're not getting paid, we're not getting fed, we're not going to work.”
The knife kept on slicing through the finger, the brain still detached. 

A whistle blowing blood vessel saw the whole thing and expedited the message to the head,
which was processing an overflow of complaints but the paper was misfiled
under a huge stack of bathroom break requests, and stomach-ache alerts.  

Finally the eyes opened and Sinatra whined about being interrupted
as Chuck's finger bounced off the floor. 
 
 
 

Matt Sutin teaches English, coaches wrestling, and dances salsa in the Philadelphia area. He has been published in The Iconoclast, and Grogger.org and has been a featured reader at the Mid Atlantic Poetry Festival, Heebs in the House, and at the Coatseville Cultural Society.