Medicine, from the heart . . . Alexander Blount

Each Thursday, the Daily Voice showcases selected Thursday Morning Memos, reflective essays about clinical experiences written by faculty, residents and alumni of the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health. Thursday Morning Memos is UMass Medical School’s homegrown version of narrative medicine, in which the authors process their experiences through writing. To learn more: http://www.umassmed.edu/news/articles/2011/personal_stories.aspx?

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In the form of a poem, Alexander Blount, EdD, professor of family medicine & community health, articulates at least one success story, if not two or three—even amidst a story that may not end completely well.

Pushups with Brett

Nothing inspires like a dawn bathroom floor,

Square up with the lines or see where the hands fall?

If not now, when?

One-two-three-one

He is done for good this time,

He said it before, now it’s got to be true.

One-two-three-two

Look at his face, look at those eyes,

Like a beagle after a hunt, spent.

One-two-three-three

He set all those records, always showed up,

Couldn’t rest on his laurels.

One-two-three-four

He’s going back to Mississippi,

Brains are probably scrambled.

One-two-three-five

No one fought so hard against the end.

One-two-three-six

Finally, it’s just about the fight.

One-two-three-seven

He did not go gently,

One-two-three-eight

One-two-three-nine

Me neither.

One-two-three-ten.