Out, Out
Frost's poem, "Out, Out", powerfully evokes this senseless madness that we see daily in the ED and in the ICU
Tag medical poem
The Ballad of Eric’s Prostate
The Ballad of Eric's Prostate starts with an unusual finding hidden inside a patient's jocks...
Little Willie the Poisoner
The ‘Little Willy‘ is a genre of short poems with an obscure origin but almost certainly inspired by, or inspired, the ‘Ruthless Rhymes‘ of ‘Harry’ Graham.
When I Am In Doubt
Glenn Colquhoun writes poetry on some of the days he doesn't want to be a doctor. His book '‘Playing God’' is well worth reading and includes 'When I Am In Doubt - A Poem for Surgeons'
The Triage Game
One for all the ED Nurses out there: The triage game is really toughYou tell us your story and woeful stuffWe listen an take in your ridiculous guffYoull get category 5 which is really rough.There’s a chest pain inside whose…
A Storm is Brewing
Tim Minchin’s brilliant beat-poem “Storm” strikes a dagger in the heart of pseudo-medical flim-flammery and quackadelic mind muddling. You’ll be glad to hear that there is a new animated version…
Operation
William Ernest Henley's life as a child and young man was ravaged by the disease John Bunyan called the 'captain of all these men of Death'
Today I do not want to be a doctor
'Today I do not want to be a doctor' is a poem by my favorite South Auckland-born medical poet, Glenn Colquhoun. Published in 'Playing God: Poems About Medicine'
Syphilis prior to penicillin
Know syphilis in all its manifestations and relations, and all other things clinical will be added unto you
The Surgeon’s Warning
Robert Southey (1834-1899) wrote the original Goldilocks tale and was Britain’s Poet Laureate for over 30 years. “The Surgeon’s Warning” is his comically macabre poem that tells the tale of the last moments of a dying surgeon, who fears he…
Tired and afraid
'Tired and afraid' is a poem that could be about any one of a number of patients I have met over the past few years. But its not. It's about a man I recently met whose words are hard to forget. I doubt I was of much help.
Invictus
No matter the nature of your afflictions, Henley's poem 'Invictus' will cover you in a shroud of invincibility and infuse you with an unconquerable spirit...