The problem isn’t with the blood; like joy it spreads easy and everywhere.

The problem isn’t with the organs; they’re warm and cushy, ever so comforting especially on

cold and lonely nights.

The problem isn’t with the flesh. A slab of skin is as challenging to an artist as is a block of clay.

It is largely blank and there is so much of it, but unlock your inventiveness; it has so many uses,

so many applications. And when you’re done creating and playing, that meat is so damn chewy

and so tasty even uncooked.

Oh sure I know what you’re thinking. It can be overwhelming. I have seen the hesitation in your

eyes. Once dissected the human body can take up considerably more space since everything is

packed so tightly inside…and well it happened to me.

You should have seen me the first time. I was in overload. I was incomplete confusion as I

unpacked. I didn’t know what to do first.

Look my dear don’t worry. There is no right or wrong here. Just sit back, survey, relax and enjoy

the moment. Let the spirit hit you.

“Like sex?”

You do enjoy sex don’t you? Yes darling, if you enjoy something so much you deserve your

token of remembrance to give it meaning.

“Father?”

Kimberleigh, don’t over think this, that’s the fun of it. Look upon the experience of humanity as

a piñata, as Christmas every time you touch one.

“Father?”

Yes, my darling.

“But what about the smell? I mean, I don’t like the smell. I don’t think I will ever get used to the

stench of a body when it’s first opened, I’m sorry. Especially so after a day or two.”

You’ll get accustomed to it. You’ll be as comfortable with it as a pair of old slippers. It will in

time trigger your desires. Just give it time sweetheart.

“But father…”

Darling, you do love the cutting?

“Yes, but it’s more like slicing. I do love to see the blood surface.”

And you have told me how much you enjoy the texture and feel of the human body.

“Oh yes, I do. But father I really only like one part the best.”

And that’s why you are keeping them in jars in your room next to your unicorns and carousel

horses. There is nothing wrong with that.

Look my dear, if full dissection isn’t your thing that’s okay. You are an individual. A unique

personality who has to develop her own style, her own signature. Just make sure you take out

your trash, being sloppy will get you caught.

“Thank you for understanding father.”

Anything for you my dear, anything at all; I am so gratified and humbled of your wish to carry

forward my legacy to you. But unlike myself, you my love are in possession of something you

treasure and perhaps that is truly better because you will always have a visible connection to

your loves.

I stopped collecting jewelry and clothing…way too dangerous if there ever is an inquiry. I hold

onto memories that with age begin to dim and falter.

You are more analytical than I which is why I believe you will ultimately outperform me and to

that I am so very pleased.

I have always been too impulsive which is perhaps why I crave the excess. And perhaps which is

why I suffer the problem I speak to.

You see darling the problem with this vocation is simply the hole I feel in my heart when I’m

done. It’s the cold feeling I get when my sweat dries and the rush is over. I am curious to see if

you feel the same as I but something tells me you will not. Something tells me you will stay level

and dead inside.

I am happy for you because in my case save for the Good Lord in Heaven, no one knows how

much I hate goodbyes.

By Joseph J. Patchen

josephjpatchen.weebly.com