Ben Harstine, M3, Class of 2021
I tried to change a patient,
instead they changed me.
I crashed into a brick wall, you see.
I poked.
I prodded.
I begged.
I implored.
I showed up to group today, a young man in a sweater.
One man was there, tattered sweatshirt and Chiefs ball-cap.
Two others walked in, both gay but not together.
An old man followed, grey hair, torn jeans.
Finally a woman, young and anxious,
joined our little commune.
The iridescent glow of cellophane windows
wraps the building in a blanket of fuchsia and blue,
a playful dance of colors that shift
as I walk past. It’s the first
of many similar days to come.
The corridors whisk me through a
playful maze, a tenuous
barrier between the parents
who wait for news and those of us who
witness it.
Hidden down in darkest cloister, depth of all the earth, a Stone, directed slowly upward through layers of time and story, waited.
The Stone was defined, yet not, sequestered mystery, definition down, dampened, the mirror darkened. Continue reading “The Stone Discovered”
Lounging through the midday once again
Clouds looming, window ajar, my mind’s unable to attend
To the task at hand: commitment to learning; endless memorization
I wish I could exude more dedication to attaining this vocation Continue reading “Creativity Intervenes”
Incredulous of the report of the malignant lump, my heart tore
To the verses of Robbin’s, I hastily implored
What fate lies ahead for my family’s core?
We’ve been branded a diagnosis
Praying for a positive prognosis
5
Does the ground call for you?
You, from your perch on the railing.
What do you see?
Freedom? Escape? Finality? Continue reading “Ode to the Jumper”
The clicking rip of velcro began
a soft,
hesitant,
non-committal sigh, a tck tck tck
that gathered momentum
and volume, built brick upon brick
until it was a wall, insurmountable– Continue reading “Threshold”