after three years go by
you appear on two slides
in a lecture
on motor neuron disease
two slides
when we first met
you were putting on
red lipstick
and they told me that you were dying
and i couldn’t move
(as if my muscles suddenly decided
to mimic yours)
two slides
that tell me what i already know
neurodegenerative
incurable
fatal
three years
i know that you’re gone
and that makes me want to
red lipstick
my mouth
our desks
and those goddamn two slides
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.
Medical Student Editor and Contributing Writer
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Slavena Salve Nissan moved to Brooklyn, New York from Baku, Azerbaijan when she was 6-years-old and comes from an ethnic minority known as the Mountain Jews. She graduated with a major in biology from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College in 2015 and after graduation, worked as a medical receptionist. She’s currently a fourth year medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where she’s continuing to explore the intricacies of her two passions: healthcare and the arts.