An Oath To Cancer
I wage war on you for you have let my eyes see; / I respect you, for you hold true to your decree. / But, I fight for those who lost purpose to your creed.
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
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
Pompeyo is a fourth-year medical student at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine. Formerly, he was a medical student researcher at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in the department of clinical cancer prevention. He is a former trainee of the medical student summer fellowship program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and of the Cancer Prevention Research Training Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He attended The University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology with a concentration in neuroscience research. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis, salsa dancing, and writing poems. After he graduates from medical school, Pompeyo will be a Resident-Physician in Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.
Days with a Daisy
Am I crazy? / I walk down the street and my ears fill with noises / And sometimes I run until my vision gets hazy.
My Choice
You say that it’s my choice? / So therefore I can choose? / I just cannot believe, / Those words you just used.
Stories
Life is a collection of stories / Housed within us all / Pages of precious memories / Plastered upon our walls
The Stairway
Climbing the steps one foot at a time \ He fell short of just one. \ But it is a part of the paradigm \ So I convince him that his journey is far from done.
Expecting
She said, / “Doctor: / I know you’ll think I’m crazy, but / I really want to get pregnant.”
Basil
It was pink / like the flowers he buys his wife. / It was not uniform.
Tongue Tied
The motor commands that choreograph speech are a privilege to possess, though I frequently find myself thinking / about silence, / and the reasons for which I may choose to leave it unbroken.
Deliverance
Jagged shards of lightning playfully dance across the horizon, / their shrieks of war struggling to keep up … / I hesitantly about-face and land my gaze upon his ethereal face.
Impunity from Lack of Immunity
On the first day of lecture, my dear, sweet professor / Had fallen ill with a case of the flu.
Name Tag
There is pain on her face. / I’m walking on the busy sidewalk, / I don’t know her.
Superficial Separations Meet Surgical Reflections
Open. / Open abdomens. / Idealized organs from Netter’s in the flesh.
Contributing Writer
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
Maseray Kamara is a 2018 MD candidate at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. She is very active on campus and was appointed to the Admissions Committee by the Dean for Admissions and elected to the Student Council by her peers. Additionally, she tutored first year students in anatomy and biochemistry and spearheaded the fundraiser ‘48 for Flint,’ a student initiated response to the Flint Water Crises. In 2016, she received the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Looking to the Future Scholarship and the AMA Foundation Minority Scholars Award. Maseray is committed to serving underserved and underinsured populations and aspires to be physician who contributes to the medical field through clinical practice, medical journalism, and public health advocacy. Follow her journey in medicine on Instagram @drkamara.
