You say that it’s my choice?
So therefore I can choose?
I just cannot believe,
Those words you just used.
Are there any conditions?
I’m sure there are some.
Are there any restraints?
There cannot be none.
So then if I can choose,
Then I choose red.
Because red is bold,
Like the blood we shed.
But no you say?
Red cannot be my choice?
Well then I choose yellow,
Because yellow is the sun’s voice.
Yellow is not allowed?
That’s a weird rule,

I guess green is my next pick
Since it is the color of earths tools.
It is the grass’s color and the flowers stem.
Did I just hear you right?
Can you please come again?

Now green is not allowed?!
That is just a shame.
How about white like paper?
Paper that which holds my name.
But yet again it’s not allowed,
This choosing is hard.
You say I can pick blue?
The only choice left on this card.
So I have only that one choice
One choice to choose between,
My decision has been made,
Out of all of the colors I’ve seen.
My choice is blue!
For freedom in the sky,
I choose to pick blue,
For the oceans I pass by.
Thank you so much
For letting me choose!
It’s good to know I have a choice,
And my freedom I did not lose.
Because if I had lost my freedom
I could not have picked blue,
You would’ve told me my color
So I would just rely on you.

Poetry Thursdays is a weekly newsletter that highlights poems by medical students and physicians. This initiative is led by Slavena Salve Nissan at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. If you are interested in contributing, please contact Slavena.

Holly Ingram (11 Posts)

Medical Student Editor and Contributing Writer

East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine

Holly Ingram is a fourth-year medical student at the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine in Greenville, North Carolina. In 2016, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in biology with minors in chemistry and anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In her free time, Holly enjoys playing soccer and visiting waterfalls. After medical school, Holly would like to pursue a career in pediatrics.