Brad
I'm sharing a poem that expresses the feeling of having GVHD, as a result of a stem cell transplant with my brother as my donor:
Genetically Modified Organism
one part of me does not like the others
senses a separate origin elsewhere
hurts what hinders
its self-expression
saws at the quick of my fingernails
has a bitter distaste for my tongue
drops hints of distemper into my liver
leaves faint-inducing traces of arsenic in my kidneys
hates my guts with a torrid passion
keeps me safe from a still worse enemy
knows I depend on its hostility
loves me in spite of everything
like an envious younger brother who plots his revenge through a two-way mirror
and watches me where I blindly suffer
the life-giving adrenaline of his anger