Bone idle

Hannah McGivern

A staunch shell to guard and anchor,
Reason beyond a suit of armour. 
Static in frame, 
Dynamic in aim. 
To bear our weight,
And shifts in gait. 

A record of the loads we shoulder,
Fusion and fracturing as we get older.
Compression, 
Tension, 
To withstand external excess,
Is shear stress!

Osteoblasts, 
Osteoclasts, 
Remodelling is continuous, 
From the cortex to cancellous.
With time articulation can spoil,
In joints no longer oiled.

Sockets and facets lined with osteophytes, 
Indicative of our pain and plights.
But in hundreds of years hence,
These developments are evidence,
Of adaptations etched and hewn, 
Across lifespans which we can exhume.

The Science

Bone is a dynamic tissue with a hierarchical structure that continually remodels and adapts in response to mechanical stresses and biological processes throughout our lifetime. Bone tissue is anything but idle, making the irony of the colloquial turn-of-phrase 'bone idle' amusing. This process involves cells called osteoclasts that break down old, damaged bone and osteoblasts, which repair and form new bone. Bony lesions and adaptations that develop due to chronic change are a record of human endurance, in contrast to a seemingly 'healthy' skeleton with no evidence of disease or stress. This is known as the osteological paradox.

The Poet

Hannah McGivern (she/her) currently works as an information specialist in Oxford, UK helping to facilitate medical research and teach research skills. She completed her PhD in bone biomechanics and, having studied archaeology and forensic osteology, was keen to acknowledge in the poem how evidence of prolonged change in the skeleton can be analysed and inform us about the past. Insight into lost stories from the past through the analysis of skeletonised remains continues to be a source of fascination and inspiration to Hannah, which she would like to write more about.

Next poem: Chance + Choice + Change = Serendipity by Lennart Björneborn