Ode to the Midwest

Any Good Poem

Richard Berlin, MD, shares Richard Young's poem, "Ode to the Midwest." Young is a highly acclaimed American poet, essayist, and editor, known for his explorations of African American history and culture, particularly in the realms of music, food, and art. Author of 11 books and editor of 8 others, Young is a winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as being a finalist for the National Book Award. He is the poetry editor of The New Yorker and served as the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture from 2021 to 2025.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 27 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.