Daniel Rortvedt, OTD, OTR/L Department of Kinesiology, Occupational Therapy 2024 Poem For John What’s built around us is affordance. A state of matter. An ice cube before it’s frozen. A mitral valve blushing into the left ventricle alongside the Allegheny River roiling over at breakneck speed. Can you fathom the distance between somewhere else and here…
All posts tagged poem
Tour of Ancient Sites: Chysauster at Gulval, Near Land’s End
Sharon M. Van Sluijs School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Pediatrics 2006 Poem (sonnet) Even the frowzy cows I passed on the narrow, muddy path up here think it’s a mystery. Their eyes asked why this high grassy field, so near, is not theirs to graze. They have bellied the fence with…
Seat of darkness
Ryan McAdams, MD School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Pediatrics 2024 Poem Whispers in the wind led me to lonely land where once stood my family tree its Irish roots drank spirits until a cruel keen blade—sharp with wrath, jealousy and greed— split the trunk in two. Gnarled branches fell, oak and…
The Juggle
Bryce Lakin School of Medicine and Public Health 2023 Poem The juggle I feel it coming closely The juggle Performing for the stage Tossing problems from one hand to the other Watching them float in an arc Never gone Just not in my hand at the moment I’m not a good juggler I only…
An Incantation for Spring
A.C. Mapes School of Medicine and Public Health 2022 Poem Bloodroot, liverwort, wild ginger serve as a salve, balm, tonic, elixir. Forget Wellbutrin, won’t take Effexor— no chemical’ll solve a long, harsh winter. Sunshine brings a natural cure: watch purple fists of rue-anemone unfurl. Bloodroot, liverwort, wild ginger please be the salve, balm, tonic,…
The First Visit
Anne C. Totero UW Hospital, Behavioral Health Department 2020/2024 Poem “You are the first therapist I am coming to.” The Gift. The Dance. The Prose. A beautiful dance. Your life as a piece of art. I prepare the materials so you may paint your own piece. We are greeted with uncertainty. Furrowed fear on…
Curiosity did NOT Kill the Cat
Gwendolyn Richardson School of Veterinary Medicine 2023 Poem There is a saying I’ve never liked One deserving deletion, it should be striked It states that curiosity often leads to tragedy This, indeed, is far removed from reality I declare, curiosity did not kill the cat It saved it, and known should be that The…
The Waiting
Kurt Swanson, MD School of Medicine and Public Health 2023 Poem Not enough organs For those needing transplants I grieve for our Waiting Who waited without a chance Of receiving what they needed Whose time ran out Before the Gift of Life could restore What Failure left them without To…
The Reason We Are Here
Claudia Vilela Casaretto School of Medicine and Public Health 2023 Poem I woke up after a surgery And my mother was crying I clutched the stuffed dalmatian the nurse handed to me The same one I held on the plane ride from Lima Todo estará bien She would tell me Todo estará bien?…
Little Heart Attacks
Erika Enk University Health Services, Medical Services 2018 Poem I don’t mean to make you cry. I mean nothing, but this has not kept you From peeling away my body, layer by layer, The tears clouding your eyes… —Suji Kwock Kim My baby brother hated onions. Sitting next to Mom, five years old, he…