Character Autopsy

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and thought

"I'd love to grip the top of my forehead, where my hairline begins,

and dig my nails deep into the epidermis,

and start carefully rolling that uppermost layer of protective casing away from the far more interesting flesh underneath?"

To bare yourself, quite literally, as a walking work of creation's art—

an autopsy showcasing the intricacy of the mechanics and machinations of your face. The skeletal structure, the fortitude of your jawbone—

and all that blood pumping through the labyrinth of vessels,

carrying the necessary oxygen and nutrients

to and from your heart to your brain and everywhere else?

Forget the scalpel. This is art, after all, not a medical procedure.

Could you perceive your character, what makes you—, just from the subcutaneous space within?

Peel away the skin of chest, abdomen, pelvis, and thighs

to understand the reasons, how's and why's?

Delicately strum the tendons and ligaments that hold together,

give structure to and connect—

muscle to bone and bone to bone

to find reason for actions?

Balladeer the arteries, veins, and capillaries of the heart

to tune into what makes you?

—

Soul and being, you can't perceive from the physical, exoskeletal alone.

Skin for skin, flesh for flesh, sinew, ligaments, tendons, and dripping arteries upon arteries—

organs and blood, oxygen, nutrients, and water—

no difference, no telling of the individual.

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: Had this thought gnawing away at me a little. Another Stream of Consciousness piece, more or less. For Poppy's Prompt's Thingo #6 using one word "autopsy".

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