Beans (A Poem for Organ Donation)

Beans

Because they fail to work properly on their own
A catheter was inserted into her abdomen
For easy access to the machine she uses daily
To help her kidneys balance the minerals that flow
In and out of her blood stream
The process is intricately connected to her food-intake
And the money she makes
The support she has from friends and fam
That worries about the fragility visible in her face
As she recants tales of fighting her landlord
Who doesn’t care about her handicap placard
Or the government that sits on the hill counting kidney transplants,
Comparing them to dollars and cents
As if they were beans in a jar
For years she’s struggled with doctors
Trying to make sense of the disease they cannot fully explain
- It causes swelling, bone loss, brain damage, and severe joint pain
She was taken off the transplant list, put back on… then taken off again
No one understands the agony she’s in
Not even I – her sister-friend
Although weak from frustration, mineral imbalance, and poverty
She writes letters to congress, speaks at rallies, and talks to anyone willing to listen
To God she prays for a kidney that works
As hard as she does to make life meaningful and whole
Like two kidney beans in concert
It is for KH that I write
In hopes that others will get to know the miracle of organ donation
And know that life…your life amounts to more than a hill of beans…

Posted by L7Holly