An Appendix Blooms In The Desert

Lazily rubbing my belly, before getting dressed

for the day, I became aware of the scar from my

appendectomy. This made me wonder about my

former appendix, which had been removed about

six years ago.

I knew, from living in such a small town, that the
Marcus Welby, MD type surgeon who removed my

appendix had since retired, that his wife had
died, and that he'd put his house on the market.
The monthly bills from him, though money was
still owed, stopped coming years ago.

But enough about him, no matter how charming

he may be. What I was wondering about, as I

prodded my scar tissue, was what might have

happened to that big, upset appendix that he
took from me... where did it go, and what
adventures might it have had??

Yes, perhaps it just went into some bag saying:
'Caution! Bio Hazard! Medical Waste Material'

and was incinerated to protect innocent people

from being assaulted by my appendix in the wee

hours of the morning.

Yes... I can almost see my appendix sneaking up

on these people, as they sleep, totally unaware
of the horrible danger they are in. Yikes!! 'Night

of the Living Dead Appendix'... (I am not going

to post images of this here, as they are simply
too disturbing for public viewing.)

But, perhaps my appendix escaped the fires of
medical waste incineration, and went on to have
a different sort of future.

Maybe it was just tossed into the trash and then
taken to the local landfill. Maybe it was dug up
by a wiley coyote and made into a happy late night
snack.

Then, later, after the coyote had trotted back
across the sage filled mesa, under the full moon,
coyote turds would have fertilized the desert
flowers with the digested remains of my appendix.

And those flowers would bloom brightly and

joyfully... new life from old, transmutation!

All this and more is possible, and that is what I
realized, rubbing my hand across my belly scar.