Like an enormous leech the pancreas lies
with its head tucked into the duodenum,
upside down, the tail outstretched over it,
an animal curled in on itself.
In the preserve jar of the belly,
it wriggles like a strange, medieval cure.
When we sleep, Anicka, the pancreas secretes its juices,
reverting tonight's toutlerre into Germanic syllables again:
cake, meat, blood. All of this healing is out of our hands.
I turn to you, completely unconscious.
Completely unconscious, you turn to me.