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  1. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
  2. Medicine and Meaning
  3. Issues
  4. Issue 7 – Winter/Spring 2023
  5. Issue 7 – Poetry

Issue 7 – Poetry

News & Announcements

Yes, She!

She has toiled, she has wept, 
Mornings of cold and fatigue,
She has bit odds and awoken,
Yet today, she smiles,

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There is Nothing to Say

There is nothing to say—
this moment, now, with you,
is so fragile, so transient that
it can only be known but
never expressed or spoken . . .

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The Keeper

She is an artist
Painting pictures

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Sycamore Orbs

Shiny wire rims encircle wrinkled eyelids,
pinkish chiffon veils gliding across Sycamore orbs;
cornflower blue sclera injected with burgundy webs,
underlined by ashen puffs of fatigue.

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Father’s Mail

The contents are “time-sensitive.”
I slit the envelope with my finger.

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St. Vincent Hospital

Gray skies spread above us like lace
on a communion tray.
Inside, they fed my father

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March of the Basal Cells

He carved a spot of skin today, and then another,
The slice all stained to find the danger,
In search of foes, to map the border.
Just a bit more, he dug in deeper.

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Left Peering

What moves, shore or ship,
when souls sail, blinking,
heartbeat . . . a blip,
yonder fog engaged,

muted by seas

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Kathy-Carol-Patty-Susy-Billy-Nancy

I find myself starting to repeat
the names, like Mom did,
from the top, so she could get
to the one she wanted.

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Influenza

Cough cold, fever, and chills
Here’s the season of growing medical bills

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Important LOVE Information

LOVE is not for everyone.
Avoid LOVE if you are not prepared, as this may cause a sudden, unsafe drop in blood pressure.

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Call It

No one will know, now, or care
that, in your rush this morning,
you grabbed one dark blue sock
and one black in the rumpled sock drawer.

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After the Hospital

A week ago, you thought the next breath could be your last.
The family and friends were buzzing with worry
and all visited you in such a scurry.
The nurses and doctors fixed you—quite fast! 

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Rushing through the Foliage (秋色急馳)

I sometimes just felt the reds and yellows randomly cutting through the greens, but without thinking, without appreciation, without judgment. 

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