Poems Archives - Page 15 of 26

Under the CyberKnife

Judson Scruton March 25, 2016 5 Comments

Judson Scruton

                    Expectant, bound, I wait
for the robotic arm
          to deliver
                              intense radiation
                    to cancerous prostate.

                    The probing eye of the radial arm
searches for my marked gland
          to the soundtrack of my choosing–
                              gentle waves, then pounding surf.
                    Where am I? What am I?

Waking

Muriel Murch March 4, 2016 10 Comments

Muriel Murch

I leave the bed softly
so as not to rouse you
and am in the bathroom before I remember
you are not here.

And yet.

It is the sound of your breathing
sung from memory
by the wind in the

Winning

Amy Odom February 12, 2016 10 Comments

Amy Odom

Like an old Atari video game I attack the folders in my inbox
Successfully devouring each power pellet placed in my path
Gulp, gulp.
Faster, faster.
Pushing to the finish line where husband and kids are waiting.
I am anxious to hear

Paper Crane

Sarah Nitoslawski January 22, 2016 13 Comments

Sarah Nitoslawski

T-cell lymphoma in the brain
MRI flooded with glaring, white-hot streaks
Devouring cerebellum and frontal lobe

A scrawled note in his chart:
“difficult and disinhibited
Neurology–please re-assess”

At the sight of our starched white coats
He reaches shakily for the

Series: Patient Interviews

Alexandra Rosenberg January 1, 2016 4 Comments

Alexandra Rosenberg

1. (PHQ-9: Screen for Depression)

“Depressed? Course I’m depressed.
My wife died ten years ago.
My son? Well…
He does the best he can for me.”

2. (DNR)

“What’s that you call it?
In-tube-ate?
No ma’am.
No way to

OR Tears

Anne Vinsel December 12, 2015 8 Comments

Anne Vinsel

Tears in the operating room are different from tears cried by civilians, by veals.
There are rules.

A single tear from one eye is unobjectionable.
Two tears, either one from each eye
or two from one eye
are permitted if they are unaccompanied

MRI of a Child’s Auricle

Blaise Allen November 20, 2015 3 Comments

Blaise Allen

From this view of your ear
I see folds of fissures,
curves of shell washed
clean by briny tears. I see
Three delicate bones of
middle ear: malleus, incus
and stapes, the smallest
bones in the human body.
I

Perfect Circle

Francesca Decker October 30, 2015 4 Comments

Francesca Decker

“You drew a perfect circle!” she exclaims.
I nod and smile as I explain,
“Yes, well, thank you…
And now this circle is a plate.
Half is vegetables.
A quarter is starch or sugar.
A quarter is protein–meat, dairy, eggs, or

Denial

Kendra Peterson October 9, 2015 8 Comments

Kendra Peterson

July first Fellow,
a pager blares announcing
my initiating consult, a 29-year-old
(just my age)
malignant melanoma
and a first-time seizure
while receiving an infusion
of experimental treatment.

When I arrive
she’s already gotten
two milligrams of

Descent….Variations on a Williams Theme

Martin Kohn September 18, 2015 8 Comments

Martin Kohn

1.
No cold plums
just the leftover
chocolate ganache
that we left in the fridge
and which I falsely accused
you of eating

Forgive me
as I lick
the sweet plate clean
and look for a magnet

First Language

Carl V. Tyler August 28, 2015 5 Comments

Carl V. Tyler

In my clinic and in the nursing home
Every week I see it
That depthless hollow look behind the eyes
But this time it was your eyes
Sitting across the table
At a TGI Friday’s outside of DC.

And that

The Circulating Nurse Enters the Operating Room

Cortney Davis August 7, 2015 15 Comments

Cortney Davis

Let me not be blinded by the glare of the spotlight
or distracted by the tangle of plastic tubes,

the stink of anesthesia waiting in its multi-chambered
monolith of sleep. Let me stand beside the patient

and look into his eyes. Let me

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