His Last, First Breath
As I unzip the synthetic shroud, / he breathes his last, first breath: / one final exhalation from the plastic pleura / before we make acquaintance.
Off the Shelf
Off the Shelf is our section for creative works by medical students.
Contributing Writer
Tufts University School of Medicine
Cade is a rising third year medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA class of 2024. In 2020, he graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience and a Bachelor of Arts in French. He enjoys photography and travel in his free time. After graduating medical school, Cade would like to pursue a career in psychiatry.
Intubate
Medical student, why don’t you intubate? / The OR is safe, it’ll go great.
Shortcomings of a Sanctuary
In the hospital lobby, three police officers / surrounded a woman in an oversized, white T-shirt, / sitting in a corner chair that nearly swallowed her whole, / enveloping her in its dull, floral pattern.
Death Is No Crime
Why — why did you die? / Your soul took to the sky / without a conscious goodbye
My Reflection (and Infinitely Beyond)
The quaternary code, the winding staircase / of you, incommensurate in its beauty.
Escape
The child’s restful sleep is lost / To the hisses of serpents and other seditious demons
Calmly Collected
My relaxed reveal / faked a fool / while tanking time / with failing fuel.
Overload
If I don’t text back / Please don’t think it’s you / It’s the abundance of info / That I must go through
The Imposter
Comparison is the enemy / The future seems bleak / Look left, look right
Blood Draw
Unsheathe a hollow spear and spill from ephemeral streams of blue. / Hold it against me only for a moment to let my skin seize against the cold steel.
To Hope, Intrepid
On a search for / assurance, / I was sat across / the Intrepid
The Flame of Life
There is something about lighting a match. / Such power and awe, / Something that might catch a stronghold
Contributing Writer
University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
Kelly Wigglesworth is a third-year medical student at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine class of 2022. In 2016, Kelly received a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in classical humanities from Biola University in La Mirada, California. Throughout her life, she has been an adventure-seeker and lover of all living things. In the moments between clinics and research, Kelly gardens, runs, paints, writes poetry, and flees to the mountains to snowboard or hike. She loves God and is passionate about recognizing the spiritual and psychological elements of health: both in the medical field and through poetry. Upon graduation, Kelly plans to become a pediatrician.