Writing about difficult emotions and situations was my practice for years before I started medical school, and thankfully it’s something I’ve been able to continue in the early stages of my career. Although it is helpful to debrief with colleagues after traumatic events, writing is another way to deal with difficult experiences. I also enjoy that poetry can be abstract and open to interpretation. Poetry isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there are many highly charged moments in our jobs—why not explore different ways to process them?
sky over a child’s funeral
this is it.
well, I think I believe that
there is nothing else
although a certain type of person
describes the horizon as empty
what happens when a well runs dry?
the beach rock, glistening
veined with a lustre of mystery, that shrivels
into something normal in your pocket
and is later tossed away
the tears would not come
even though I felt sad as the sky
hanging down with heavy wisps
that promised no rain
there was a coldness to it
a winter sweeping through
but the tears would not come
not when another child
sleepily grabbed my finger
from the crib
not when I thought long and hard
through the night
about what had been lost
not even when I let the water run hot
over my forehead and down my cheeks
when I had absolutely nothing to hide
grey is such an ugly colour
which is almost too much to bear
because nothing is black or white
Footnotes
Competing interests
None declared
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