The skin is the largest organ in the human body. It lines every external cavity and crevice, serving as our body’s first mechanism of defense against pathogens. Its arguably one of the most beautiful epithelial barriers we have. Skin is textured. Some moisturized and soft, others calloused and pocked. Some smooth, others riddled with wrinkles, stretch marks and creases. Its variegated texture gives it character and tells many stories. For example, the callouses on my finger tips reveal that I am a musician who plays the guitar, the scar on my left elbow bares witness to a bike accident in my youth, and the indention on my forehead is a reminder of my childhood chicken pox ordeal. Some stories skin cannot tell. Those are left for us to tell. Skin can only tell of the stories that leave a mark. 
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Poem: "Cardboard Man"

By Ciara Reyes
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This poem was inspired by and is dedicated to my 91-year old Grandpa Benjamin Hernandez who was a migrant farm worker - he worked hard with his hands picking cotton, fruits and vegetables in Northern California, North Dakota and Texas. He also worked as a janitor at the Claremont Colleges in California, and mowed lawns and recycled cans, newspapers and cardboard to take care of his family. This poem reflects on his skin, which is various shades of brown, sun-spotted and stained, worn and weathered. His skin is testament to survival, a sturdy epithelium emanating strength and resolve, yet also full of warmth and compassion. His skin is a lesson for me on perseverance and an invitation to listen more and learn.

Cardboard Man

Brown,
like the cardboard
he carried,
was the skin
his ancestors gave him.

It was brown,
like the paper bags
he carried
down the side of 
an unpaved road.

It was brown
like the dirt 
he carried
on the tips of his
weather worn boots.

Brown bodies
sunspotted and stained
speak silent stories

of the things they’ve carried, listen.

Ciara Reyes is a scientist, singer-songwriter and freelance writer, who joined the God & Nature staff in June 2017 as Managing Editor. She has a Ph.D. in Cellular & Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan, and began training in theology at Vanderbilt Divinity in Fall 2016.
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