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?
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. |
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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.