Medicine
John Grey is an Australian-born poet, playwright, and musician. His latest book is What Else is There from Main Street Rag. His work has appeared in The English Journal, Northeast, Pearl, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. The following poem was first published in the Bellevue Literary Review.
**
FIRST BORN
You want to tell everyone
that your wife's not sick
she's having a baby.
She may not feel great
but goddammit if she's not healthier
than anyone in the entire hospital,
every doctor, every sad sack
fidgeting anxiously in a waiting room.
"It's a miracle" you want to
cry out to the woman whose husband's
downstairs having radium treatment,
the guy whose girlfriend is in a coma,
the old man whose bride of fifty years
no longer speaks his name.
You know enough that for every miracle
on this earth, there's at least three
that are grinding their marvels in reverse,
so you keep silent.
Eventually, the nurse struts down the corridor
two steps behind her smile,
declares that "It's a boy."
All heads look up.
For a moment there, a tumor,
a dead brain, a blank look,
are, each in turn, a boy.
- John Grey
- Guest Blog: Writing Poems On Antidepressants
Nikki Moustaki is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Poetry and is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She has taught at New York University, Indiana University, and the New School. The following poem was first...
- Favorite Guest Blogs
This post links to a selection of moving poetry and short fiction pieces previously featured on Common Sense Family Doctor, mostly republished with permission from the Bellevue Literary Review and Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine. Many thanks...
- Guest Blog: Having An Mri/waiting For Laundry
Jan Bottiglieri is a writer and editor, and a poetry student in the MFA program at Pacific University. She lives in Schaumberg, Illinois. The following piece was first published in the Bellevue Literary Review. ** HAVING AN MRI / WAITING FOR LAUNDRY I...
- Guest Blog: Found In Translation?
Danielle Ofri is a writer and practicing internist at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital and editor-in-chief of the Bellevue Literary Review. The following piece is an excerpt from her newest book, Medicine in Translation: Journeys with my Patients (©Beacon...
- Guest Blog: Cleft
Jon Neher is clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and associate director of the Valley Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program. He is editor-in-chief of the newsletter Evidence-Based Practice and a...
Medicine
Guest Blog: First Born
John Grey is an Australian-born poet, playwright, and musician. His latest book is What Else is There from Main Street Rag. His work has appeared in The English Journal, Northeast, Pearl, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. The following poem was first published in the Bellevue Literary Review.
**
FIRST BORN
You want to tell everyone
that your wife's not sick
she's having a baby.
She may not feel great
but goddammit if she's not healthier
than anyone in the entire hospital,
every doctor, every sad sack
fidgeting anxiously in a waiting room.
"It's a miracle" you want to
cry out to the woman whose husband's
downstairs having radium treatment,
the guy whose girlfriend is in a coma,
the old man whose bride of fifty years
no longer speaks his name.
You know enough that for every miracle
on this earth, there's at least three
that are grinding their marvels in reverse,
so you keep silent.
Eventually, the nurse struts down the corridor
two steps behind her smile,
declares that "It's a boy."
All heads look up.
For a moment there, a tumor,
a dead brain, a blank look,
are, each in turn, a boy.
- John Grey
- Guest Blog: Writing Poems On Antidepressants
Nikki Moustaki is the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Poetry and is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She has taught at New York University, Indiana University, and the New School. The following poem was first...
- Favorite Guest Blogs
This post links to a selection of moving poetry and short fiction pieces previously featured on Common Sense Family Doctor, mostly republished with permission from the Bellevue Literary Review and Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine. Many thanks...
- Guest Blog: Having An Mri/waiting For Laundry
Jan Bottiglieri is a writer and editor, and a poetry student in the MFA program at Pacific University. She lives in Schaumberg, Illinois. The following piece was first published in the Bellevue Literary Review. ** HAVING AN MRI / WAITING FOR LAUNDRY I...
- Guest Blog: Found In Translation?
Danielle Ofri is a writer and practicing internist at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital and editor-in-chief of the Bellevue Literary Review. The following piece is an excerpt from her newest book, Medicine in Translation: Journeys with my Patients (©Beacon...
- Guest Blog: Cleft
Jon Neher is clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and associate director of the Valley Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program. He is editor-in-chief of the newsletter Evidence-Based Practice and a...