In the Theatre

Any Good Poem

Richard Berlin, MD, shares the poem “In the Theatre” by Dannie Abse. Abse was a distinguished Welsh physician, poet, novelist, playwright, and essayist. Born in Cardiff, Wales in 1923, he pursued his medical education at the University of Wales College of Medicine and King's College London. His unique ethnic background, blending Welsh and Jewish cultural sensibilities with clinical observation, heavily influenced his prolific body of work. Abse's literary contributions were widely recognized, earning him numerous accolades throughout his lifetime. He died in 2014.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 28 years in Psychiatric Times in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is an instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. His latest book is Tender Fences.