There Is No Sound
There is no sound / like that of a heart breaking.
Poetry Thursdays
Poetry Thursdays is our initiative to highlight poetry and prose by medical students, with a new post every Thursday. If you are interested in contributing or would like to learn more, please contact our editors.
Contributing Writer
University of Rochester School of Medicine
Jennifer is a fourth year medical student at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, NY. She graduated from University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and biochemistry. She enjoys hiking, writing, and traveling in her free time. After graduating medical school, Jennifer will pursue a career in emergency medicine.
Medicine is a March
Medicine is a march, but it’s not like Sherman’s to the sea. You don’t burn what you leave, and the sea is always just beyond the next hill.
Broken
A few winters ago, you called me after a ski accident and announced / “I have fractured my tibial plate.”
The Tomato Plant
We work in a hospital / Faithfully / Like the tomato plant / Serving a garden community
I Dream Ahead
Draped the head and steadied the bed / For the life-saving aneurysm clipping, / I stop thinking of my former life.
Anatomy of Love
Your Smile / Wrinkles, / Where my jokes weren’t funny.
Bun
Filled with fear and pain but love and hate / To raise it alone since he never agreed
Emma
We stand beneath tin roofs / with raindrops on our lips / regret behind our eyes.
Gluteus Maximus
Deeper than its captivating shape / lies a greater purpose.
Rise
So, one way or another / I keep craning my neck / Looking up.
The Weight of a Smile
I’ve thought about this for quite a while: / How much I owe to just a smile.
My Mask
We all earn our way here / Paid in hours of studying / and minutes of fun lost.
Contributing Writer
West Virginia Medical School
Amy Schattel is a second year medical student at West Virginia Medical School. She attended Wheeling Jesuit and the University College Cork for her undergraduate education. Her passions include physician/student wellness, culinary and lifestyle medicine, advocacy, and of course---writing. When she's not watching a Sketchy video for the fourth time, she can be found curled up with a good book and her regally fluffy cat, Rembrandt.