VALVE

The replacement valve that saved him 

was crafted from tissue of pig, so

he no longer ate pork. It seemed inappropriate 

to be devouring his benefactor's relatives. 

The heart specialist concurred,

but for a different reason - namely

that less animal fat would mean 

a much healthier cardiac system.

He also developed a strange compulsion

to visit pig farms - to the extent of once 

sneaking into a pigsty and sleeping there overnight,

just to gain an insight into how it feels to be a pig!

Perhaps, one day, he could even learn 

to communicate with them, a bit like

the legendary Doctor Doolittle!

Sometimes he'd sit in front of a mirror

and almost convince himself that his features

we're gradually changing, were becoming

more and more pig-like: his nose snout shaped

and his ears like those of a pig.

And he dared not admit to anyone

that he had an increasing fear

that he'd wake one morning, to discover

he could no longer speak, only grunt - and that

he had trotters instead of hands and feet!

And even worse - what if

the metamorphosis eventually became total?

What then?

He considered his wife and children, his friends.

What would they think?

Would they even realise he was him?

He would have no way of letting them know he was.

And what if he should fall

into the hands of a butcher? Surely

then there would be the horrifying possibility

that his family may inadvertently consume him! 

And still, today, the paranoia continues to escalate...

for there is no escaping

                                       the pig DNA inside him. 😉😉