Deadlines rush on, relentlessly.
Another email signed,
“Best regards.”
We measure our days in the spaces between work,
And work,
And work.
Teaspoons of freedom we cling onto — to breath, to think
For a second, before the transactional nature of life,
Takes over.
We drink in the guilt of doing nothing;
Every moment commodified — thoughts into actions, actions into impact,
We give too much, yet we give not enough of ourselves — to ourselves.
Nobody talks about,
The loneliness, the suicides,
The feeling of seeing a dying child and,
Feeling nothing.
Let us hold onto our hearts,
Until each heartbeat swallows us,
Pounding against the silence
Of apathy.
Poetry Thursdays is an initiative that highlights poems by medical students. If you are interested in contributing or would like to learn more, please contact our editors.
Contributing Writer
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Qiang Zhang is a first year medical student at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in LA, CA class of 2025. In 2019, she graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. She enjoys yoga, playing music, and reading books in her free time. After graduating medical school in 2025, Qiang would like to pursue a career in Internal Medicine.