Escape
The child’s restful sleep is lost / To the hisses of serpents and other seditious demons
Tag: 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
Stanford University School of Medicine
Brian Smith is a first-year medical student at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, a member of the starting class of 2021. In 2019 he graduated from Stanford with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in English, and in 2020 he graduated from Stanford with a Master of Science in biology. He enjoys writing poetry and narrative medicine, as well as running and reading in his free time. In the future, Brian would like to pursue a career in anesthesiology or oncology.
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
The Cost
There is a darkness that lingers above. / Alive and breathing, / Short shallow breaths.
I Miss You, Too
There are fewer flowers in the hospital rooms now. / The ones sent to room 22 / have been taken out.
You Should Know
You say that I must be hot / and reach over to take my coat off. / No, I’ll keep it on.
Half-mast
you’re making things worse / rubbing wounds with the salt / from their own sweat
Patient Advocate
“Abuse is of use.” / That is what we tell ourselves. / That it makes us stronger.
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.