Poetry

Thank you, Patients

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Submission by: Lily Zhu, OMS-III

Thank You! - Openclipart
source: https://openclipart.org/detail/311126/thank-you

I see you.
I hear you.
I am here for you.
Thank you for trusting me.
Thank you for being vulnerable.
Everything you share, no matter how small, is invaluable.
It helps me become a better listener, a better healer, a better person.
My journey may be long, but with each and every one of you, I get a little closer.
I stand a little taller.
You see, I am still a medical student.
I am still in training.
But with each of your encounters, I feel myself leveling up.
So, if you are willing, tell me your story.
Show me your scars.
Let’s face your fears.
Slowly and steadily, I trek forward.
I am nothing without you, but with you, I am everything.
So dear patients, thank you.
Thank you to each and every one of you.

Teacher

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Submission By: La Donna R. Porter, MD

St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Stockton CA, Family Medicine Residency Program Director

clipart of the apple teacher

Image accessed from: https://pixy.org/4390466/

My inspiration for this poem was truly my love for teaching Family Medicine Residents and medical students.

However, I realized that my passion for teaching was also due in part to the Family Medicine Faculty, Residents, Specialists, Nurses, Hospital Staff and last but not least the patients I care for, ALL of whom were instrumental in training me.

I have become, in many ways, the Physician and Teacher I am because of them. 

Teacher

Teacher, teacher what can I say 

You chose me to stretch beyond any normal boring day 

With thoughts of scalpels and sutures and retractors swimming around in my head 

You chose me for a different journey than that for which I had been led 

To what do I owe you 

Can you or will you ever know 

How much you have done for me there is so much to say 

How much I have learned each and every day 

Oh teacher, teacher what am I to do 

When this beautiful journey ends 

I will most certainly miss you 

How can I say it, where will I begin 

But as a sorority, of which I am a member for life 

You too are with me forever 

I cannot tell you how much I went through to meet you 

As much as I can, I will leave you never 

Here I am teaching those as you have taught me 

The biopsychosocial model swims lovingly in my head 

Differential diagnoses are where the learners are led 

In this journey planned out for me, more incredible discovery 

So now that I have told you all that you need to know 

How much I truly have grown because you have loved me so 

Thank you for stretching me beyond where I thought that I could never go 

An incredible teacher I have become, to you I know I owe 

Teacher, teacher what can I say 

Thank you Family Medicine  

For training and raising me  

In your amazing way

La Donna R. Porter, MD

The Road Not Taken

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Submission by: Onkar Mudhar, MD

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

– Robert Frost

Seeing Clearly Now

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Submission by: T Offori Esq. MB;ChB(UGh) MSc(Lond) FRCSEd FRCS(GS)Ed, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon Rtd, South Yorkshire UK

After many weeks of fairly firm lockdown in the U.K. , it is uplifting to be able to embark on walks for as long as one desires.

It is not only a time for physical exertion, but also for observation, contemplation and reflection, all very familiar to us in the healthcare field.

I hope these few lines will encourage readers as we think on nature’s scope, from the microscopic to what has clearly always been before us.

On a Country Walk;

Now We See Better

by: T Offori Esq. MB

Amazing how the planted seed thrives amidst the broken ground.

We see the shoots
We see the stalks
We count the buds

We pick the blooms.

But we must walk the beaten path to stretch the sinews and tend the mind to see these things.

Amazing how it takes the small unseen to see the spread of nature’s hand;

The plants, the birds, water and sky;

All carry a prettiness taken for granted,

Until now.

And as you meet a fellow walker, keep your distance and doff your hat,

with a “Hi”, “good day” or a “hello mate”,
We remember the import of the little things,
Both seen and unseen.

–TWKO

NO VICTORY FOR THE INVISIBLE CROWN

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Original Submission by: Dr. Christine Amakye, Associate Specialist Anaesthetist, MB.ChB, MRCA, MSc

Lister Hospital, UK

Thank You Doctor Nurse - Free image on Pixabay

Though corona’s likened to a crown,

It’s brought many death as their lungs drown.

In minutes, days and weeks and months,

It’s led us all a deadly dance.

But God’s great blessings from above,

With social distancing and love,

And disinfectant, facemasks and scrubs,

Will once again make us ascend,

To health and wealth and peace and mend,

All broken hearts who’ve lost a friend;

And loved ones made to heaven climb,

Will rest in heav’nly peace sublime.

For those of us still left alive,

T’will be a different world in which to live,

But if we love, work hard, forgive,

We should attain God’s will and thrive.

Pretty Ugly

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Submitted by Barbara Entsuah, MD, Family Medicine, Clermont, Florida

There are 2 ways to read this incredibly amazing poem by Abdullah Shoaib.

We all deal with self-doubt from time to time and this poem tells us that we deserve love, compassion and kindness and belief in ourselves but that the well from which all that springs should start from within us.

I’m very ugly
So don’t try to convince me that
I am a very beautiful person
Because at the end of the day
I hate myself in every single way
And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying
There is beauty inside of me that matters
So rest assured I will remind myself
That I am a worthless, terrible person
And nothing you say will make me believe
I still deserve love
Because no matter what
I am not good enough to be loved
And I am in no position to believe that
Beauty does exist within me
Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think
Am I as ugly as people say?

Now read the same words, but READ THE LAST LINE FIRST AND GO UP.

A Walk Through The Crichton Gardens Of South West Scotland

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Submission by: Dr. Paul Mensah, FRCOG,Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist, NHS (UK)

We know how hard times are for everyone around the world during these uncertain pandemic times.

However, being on “lockdown” doesn’t mean we have to shut off our creativity and gratitude for the beauty in things around us.

Below is an image and original poem reflecting on what we can see when we pause and appreciate what nature still has to offer us even in the era of social distancing.

Courtesy Image from Dr. Paul Mensah

A Walk Through The Crichton Gardens Of South West Scotland

by: Dr. Paul Mensah

I have walked these winding paths so often,
For relaxation,
For contemplation, 
And to reflect on
The meaning of life.

And yet, and until now,
Have never sensed that
The beautiful creation all around me,
Speak so loudly, yet so soothingly. 

The lockdown, 
With no cars and humans zooming around the place,
Has allowed the melodious voices of an  array of birds,
To be heard; 
The tones, 
The crescendo and decrescendo,
The andante and cadenza,
The adagio and the accent,
Harmoniously  complementing each other,
With such orchestral precision.

With the warmth of the evening sun on my back, 
I am stopping and staring as I go along. 
No rush, for I am in 
A Covid-19-induced lockdown mode. 

Your glory, God, 
Your mighty works abound.
In the blue skies above, 
In the majestic trees Ahead and around  me, 
In the kaleidoscope of the beautiful flowers all around,
their praise for you resounds. 

Creation speaks without a voice or word; 
And yet,
In these beautiful gardens , 
Its message can now be heard;
And it is so simple;
Peace, perfect peace. 
Tranquility, perfect tranquility.
But only when I stop, 
And only when I stand still
And only when I stare,
In loving admiration and awe.  

Stimulate Optimism

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Submission by: Anil Harrison, MD

Below is a picture taken during the Santa Rosa Fires and an original daily dose of spoken word reflecting on the photo and fires.

As the aquamarine skies turn to a heartwarming tangerine and the little dot of gold bids adieu…
it assures that it would see me again at dawn…
the light would be brighter and the thrill to follow merrier, a new day would come with good prospects…
after all we have realized so much…
we have set eyes on the beauty…
the simplicity and have learnt to appreciate its onset…
the sunrise once again, every day is a blessing and this creation ,” sheer magnificence!”

Grey Across the Bay

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Submission by: Anil Harrison, MD

Even when the world may start seeming bleak and dark, there are moments of humanity still to be found in reflection.

Here is an original daily dose of poetry to get you rethinking the current shades of grey and to see a ray of hope for the days ahead.

Courtesy Image from Dr.Harrison

The grey across the bay…

An expression of the world today !

Fall not a prey to what folks might say

Prettier days are not far away...

Around the corner, and for a while will stay 

The warm and sunny month of May..

A Dash of Humanity

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Submission by: Kwabena Adubofour, MD

Sometimes the simplest poetry can create the most lasting impact.

In this strange and uncertain times let these following words ease and humbly resonate with your humanity today.

The Dash Poem

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at a funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears but said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time they spent alive on earth and now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own, the cars…the house…the cash. What matters is how we lived and loved and how we spend our dash.

So, think about this long and hard; are there things you’d like to change? For you never know how much time is left that still can be rearranged.

To be less quick to anger and show appreciation more and love the people in our lives like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile…remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read, with your life’s actions to rehash, would you be proud of the things they say about how you lived your dash?

http://thedashpoem.com

Let us know how you felt after reading this poem. How will YOU live your dash?