Category: Creative writing

Creative Non-fiction, GHHS, Narrative

A Home for Baby

by medintima1 Comment on A Home for Baby

Taylor Knowles, M3, Class of 2025

Do you hear crying?
Demanded to move, she
Swallows belongings
And cradles her womb.
”This property is private, or didn’t you see?
You don’t belong near people like me.”

Without help, she scrambles alone
Packing the items that make up her home.
An ache finds her spine like the ache in her heart
For a place to exist and create a new start
But the feet in her womb push her on
Down this path.

Two miles pass and she drops to her knees, crying
In pain as she falls on the street.
Without any medicine, what can you do for a pain so engulfing it hurts just to move?
And yet, in the stillness, the baby won’t rest.

Do you hear crying?
As she’s helped from the ground, the pain overcomes her
But, also, this sound is the cadence and chorus of
Something so sweet—the sound of a battered soul
Finding relief.

I enter her room, my notebook in hand, noting the
Name on her hospital band.
She shares how painful recounting can be, and as
She details her past miseries
I remember we all are just human.

Blood tests and images unfold the truth:
Infections are sprouting in scars from her youth.
Bacteria runs from her heart to her bones and, just
As she does, continues to roam
In search of someplace a new life can survive.

Poetry, V5 I2

I bear witness to heart failure

by je4mesLeave a Comment on I bear witness to heart failure

Saniya Ahmed, M1, Class of 2027

 

Definitions for non-Muslim audiences: 

Shahada – the declaration of faith in the Islamic tradition, “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger.” This is one of the five pillars of Islam. We recite this statement often but hope that it rolls off our tongues in our time of death so we may die with this declaration of faith.

Ummah – the global Muslim community, bound together by religion. Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, described the Ummah in this way: “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” (Source: Sahih Al Bukhari 6011, Sahih Muslim 2586)

Author’s Note:

Saniya Ruqiah Ahmed began her poetry journey as a spoken word and slam poet in the realm of social justice advocacy. For nearly a decade, her art has been kept within the ears of her audience, and she is now aiming to bring her work to paper. Her poetry centers on themes like family, faith, social justice, and Muslim and Indian diaspora. Now as a medical student, her poetry has shifted to also encompass humanity and dignity in health and healthcare.

Creative writing, Literature, Poetry, V5 I2

I Don’t Have Time

by medintimaLeave a Comment on I Don’t Have Time
I Don’t Have Time

Simon Longhi, M3, Class of 2025

I don’t have time.

I happened upon my two life roads
that diverged in a wood
so much later than I’d prefer.
It’s an echoey, reverberating–…
… –Err, berating, thing
that whirrs
like a sputtering motor
within my mind. Mulling
over so much, missed, in life.
I still want to reach, proverbial peace.
Keep, my sense of wonder.
Find, finally, someone to love.
But the wind that blows
down that sort of road,
could I even let,
that,
carry me?
Is that allowed?
Because to career, careen, down
–Medicine–, that path,
my calling, as a healer, now–
shouldn’t that demand in me, most everything?

I don’t have time.

Continue reading “I Don’t Have Time” →
Creative writing, Poetry, V5 I1

The Imposter monster on Mother’s Day 

by ejcasteenLeave a Comment on The Imposter monster on Mother’s Day 

Harmony Saunders, MD/PhD Student, Class of 2026

The girl in my bag 
You are so ugly. Try to hide your face. If you peek out of that bag, everyone will know. 
You’re different
Keep a secret. Safe inside this skin. Don’t let anyone know that ugly girl within. Smile as you belong, full of confidence, but hide that ugly girl, the one behind the fence. 

The ugly girl you are, that fought your way to be
Pretend it was all handed to you, like the many you see. 
Oh ugly girl inside, don’t share the suffering felt 
Don’t share the pains of never loved, don’t share the tears you wept 
Ugly girl just stay, 
Inside the dark brown bag
That way no one will know that inside, you are just sad

Continue reading “The Imposter monster on Mother’s Day “ →
Creative writing, Fiction, Literature, V5 I1

The Slide

by medintimaLeave a Comment on The Slide

Liam Lynch, MD Class of 2026

“I woke up after a nap one day with quite a bit of inspiration, so immediately I went to write this short story.”

“Welcome to Summer Camp,” the sign read. The excitement was palpable; the lot of us were all clamored together in that first courtyard. No one here had been to camp before, despite everyone being different ages. From the younger middle-schoolers, to the older of us high-schoolers, everyone was witness to the halcyon summer about to unfold. I knew going in that it was a goal of the summer camp to grow the older campers into leaders so that they’d come back the next year as counselors, and quite frankly, I was all-too-naïve and looking forward to the recognition and responsibility that would soon come with it. As we waited for the counselors to join us, I took in the moment.

Continue reading “The Slide” →