fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

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fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

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And What Is Beautiful

if not a healing wound?
toes missing, trans-metatarsal amputation,
remaining tissue puckering deep pink:
raw beauty in disfigurement.

He shows me pictures on his cell phone,
the toes felt doused with molten metal.
Before debridement: brown-black,
the foot decaying like a leaf in winter.

Now: under the dressing,
a pared-down foot,
not yet for walking.

Patient with a body
shedding parts,
he is a man distilled:

joy at healing.

Call for Entries​

Pulse Writing Contest​​

"On Being Different"

Marta Christov, a nephrologist practicing in the Boston area, is an emerging poet. Her work seeks to elevate the patient experience.

About the Poem

“This poem stems from an interaction I had with a patient shortly after a foot debridement, and how happy he appeared. This patient, now long gone, was always cheerful despite many medical problems, and I really admired his ability to focus on the positive.”

Comments

3 thoughts on “And What Is Beautiful”

  1. Dana Cook Grossman

    Marta, what a delight, as I was belatedly catching up with my email in-box, to see your byline on last week’s “Friday story” from Pulse! What a beautifully observed vignette. Your patients are lucky!

  2. I admire anyone who can communicate a lot through the limited form of poetry. Your specific word choices painted a clear picture of a medical issue and the person dealing with it. Thank you for beginning 2024 in such a beautiful, heartfelt way.

  3. I love this poem for its amazingly vivid imagery and its hopefulness–especially poignant and needed at this time of year! Thank you so much!

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