SPOTLIGHT -
August 30th 2025
Through poetry, explore the inspiring journey of Dr Benjamin Griffeth, a retired Navy veteran, as his colleague Dr Frank Clark reflects on his impactful legacy.
August 27th 2025
August 14th 2025
"Tonight their eyes meet with the spirit of sacred music..."
July 16th 2025
"He slaps a chest film on the light box and hooks a bleary intern: Tell me, doctor, what is the shape of this child’s ears?"
July 7th 2025
This heartfelt tribute poem to Dr Jessica Obeysekare celebrates her passion, empathy, and dedication in both life and academia.
Girl in the Doorway
"When she steps onto the front porch, sun shimmies through the tips of her hair, the V of her legs, fans out like wings under her arms..."
Ut Eam Prope (Keep Her Close)
Explore the theme of mortality and the fleeting nature of time in a poem inspired by Stoic philosophy and personal reflection.
Hattie McDaniel Arrives at the Coconut Grove
"No matter, Hattie: It’s a long, beautiful walk into that flower-smothered standing ovation, so go on and make them wait."
Those Winter Sundays
"What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?"
At the Student Poetry Reading
"In my poem, says another, I can forget I am forgotten. Now I understand being misunderstood..."
How a Psychiatrist Writes a Poem...
"I begin by remembering my hours as a patient..."
Lines for Winter
"Tell yourself as it gets cold and gray falls from the air that you will go on..."
The Second Coming...
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..."
Renewed Focus
A psychiatrist reflects on the New Year and its potential...
"How a Psychiatrist Writes a Poem"
"This is the moment my therapist would cross his legs, look into my eyes, and wait for me to reveal something."
The Talking Cure
"They don't teach the talking treatment anymore..."
"Wounds"
"Here the body’s art conspires with destruction..."
Wounds
"Each wound contains its own beauty..."
Turtle
"Who would be a turtle who could help it?"
2 True Stories
Medical student Liz Irvin discusses how storytelling is integral to her ability to stay sensitive when it comes to medicine and education, and shares a poem about an experience she had caring for others before starting medical school.
"Autumn Faces"
"The season pivots and bends to the darkening north..."
Mrs. Butterworth, Uncle Ben & Aunt Jemima
"The headlines said Well-Loved American Foods Resisted Arrest, Failed to Comply, and Were Delicious While Black."
Last Rights – Ode to C7
“We’ll soon become the land, Of death on demand…”
"Nursing Home Doctors"
"I say Good Morning! and he studies me in my white coat, like skin lesion he has seen only once in a textbook."
Nursing Home Doctors
"After each lap around the circular hall the aides smile, Hello Doctor!"
The Nation
"The national day had dawned."
After Apple Picking
"I am overtired, Of the great harvest I myself desired."
"Einstein’s Happiest Moment"
"...a falling man falling beside a falling apple could also be described as an apple and a man at rest..."
Owls
"I imagine an ossuary blooming in my gut, a stone well of tiny bones, ancestors tunneling through the cartilage, though of course I know this is impossible: ancestors are supposed to stay dead."
Einstein’s Happiest Moment
"Einstein’s happiest moment occurred when he realized a falling man falling beside a falling apple could also be described as an apple and a man at rest..."
Hurried Prayer to My Chainsaw
"...I swear to not be in a half-assed rush, wear helmet & ear guards, keep my gloves on for even a fast cut..."
Senryu
Goes to the market Just to hear another voice: “Paper or plastic?”
Belief in Magic
"A single gem has throbbed in my chest my whole life, even though, even though this is my second heart..."
Ficus Lyrata...
"One September morning, the day I started medical school, I placed a two-foot specimen in my sunny south window."
"Ficus Lyrata"
"...the heart-shaped ficus leaves dropping like sad notes from a Spanish song..."