A Psychiatrist's Reflections for Thanksgiving

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POETRY FOR INCLUSION

Gratitude—the endless

noun that pursues

fractures

hearts seeking

relationship repair

this season

Blessing—the cosmic

noun that searches

feeble knees

seeking durability

for the spiritual

journey

Recognition—the forgotten

noun that bemoans

Indigenous oppression

seeking resurgence

of cultural

identity

Respect—the invisible

noun that desires

stagnant opaque

minds seeking

intellectual

growth

Appreciation—the enduring

noun that replenishes

collapsed lungs

seeking to breath

molecules of integrated

love

Dr Clark is an outpatient psychiatrist at Prisma Health-Upstate and clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Greenville. He served on the American Psychiatric Association’s Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry, and he currently serves as the Diversity and Inclusion section editor and advisory board member for Psychiatric Times^TM.