And What Is Beautiful

if not a healing wound?
toes missing, trans-metatarsal amputation,
remaining tissue puckering deep pink:
raw beauty in disfigurement.

He shows me pictures on his cell phone,
the toes felt doused with molten metal.
Before debridement: brown-black,
the foot decaying like a leaf in winter.

Now: under the dressing,
a pared-down foot,
not yet for walking.

Patient with a body
shedding parts,
he is a man distilled:

joy at healing.