Addressing racial/cultural biases and immigration bans
Send us the broken, the battered,
“give me your tired, your poor,”
your torn and tattered.
Have we truly maintained compassion and decorum?
Is that oath so forgotten
that we fall to our pride?
Our obsession with freedom
leaves many behind.
Our choices have impact,
ignorance warps reality.
If we fail to adapt,
then we are the broken ones.
There is chance for revision,
for shifting the system.
It begins with a question —
with self-criticism.
Confronting hidden biases
or unknown prejudice —
these tendencies, this virus.
Accept your imperfection
and accept the challenge
of embracing introspection
and welcoming unbalance.
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
Indiana University School of Medicine
Lucas is a fourth year medical student at Indiana University School of Medicine in the class of 2021. In 2017, he graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. He enjoys hiking, writing, and playing the piano in his free time. After graduating medical school, Lucas would like to pursue a career in pediatric neurology.