Eden's Stoner Chair

POETRY OF THE TIMES

Built from black walnut,

part Lazy Boy with red velvet

cushions smoothed by years

Richard M. Berlin, MD

of friction and sweat, his name tag

glued to a runner, country auction

crowd joking the chair looked

perfect for a stoner. And after

all the Chippendales are sold

and loaded on vans, no one bids

against me for broken in comfort.

I raise my paddle and the gavel

drops for a two-dollar bill,

a seat too humble to join

the stainless steel and leather

Stressless chairs in my office,

but comfortable for my study,

where I’ve spent thirty years

rocking its heavy springs,

reading books and journals,

charting treatment plans to help

patients find an Eden of their own.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 23 years in Psychiatric Times^TM in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.❒