Everything must fit:

Lines run to the left

over strokes going right.

Bunching and stretching,

proteins moving and changing.

Parades of cells

marching by, in

columns and columns

and rows

and rows.

Partner bones:

symmetrical

bone partners.

One ventral, one dorsal.

Interconnecting nerves,

flowing down synapse rivers

and sensitive tributaries.

 

And then the shock:

Cells pushed

out of place

out of order

out of function.

Chaos reigns;

structured lines now tangled ribbons.

Bunching and stretching,

proteins pushed and confused.

Cells lysed, no apoptosis,

milling around.

Symmetry smashed and splintered.

Nerves become nervous,

impulsively shooting impulses

 

Later:

Lines return left,

strokes turn right.

Calmly bunching and stretching,

moving and changing.

Military cells, again in order.

Fractures close: spiderwebs of peace.

Tranquil nerves,

no longer in whitewater rapids.

Normalcy is back.

 

Except:

One slightly crooked line.

Lifeless cells remain.

Bones weaker, nerves dead.

Scarring and scaring.

The body remembers

even when the mind forgets.