Correspondence

Harvesting

N Engl J Med 2000; 343:1499November 16, 2000

Article

Chinese whispers

pass from cell to cell

as doctors walk their rounds

examining the inmates,

taking samples, making notes.

Harvesters among them

boost their meager earnings

organizing. . . .

A chance encounter

with a foreigner in need

sows seeds, a scheme

to combat shortage,

nurture dollars.

Secret meetings mulched with bribes.

Autumn plucking:

Surreptitiously the harvesters

reap local prisons,

specimens for typing,

mix-and-matching dissidents

awaiting execution.

At death, excisions.

Harvesters transport each prisoner

in pieces, trade their gleanings —

kidneys, liver, lungs, corneas,

pancreas, and skin

for transplantation.

Selling.

Walls of silence.

Joanna Watson, M.F.P.H.M.
5 Church St., Harbury CV33 9EY, United Kingdom