SPOTLIGHT -
July 12th 2024
"...the beauty still intoxicating, the spirit of the research like a child swimming for the first time in the sea, awed..."
July 11th 2024
"By now I’ve lost track of time with this boy who reminds me of myself when I imagined becoming a doctor..."
July 5th 2024
"Remember? Remember wanting to play every minute, as if that was why we were born?"
June 28th 2024
"How free is our will if our fate is decided by our melanin. What is the meaning of Black lives when so many people don’t think we matter?"
June 21st 2024
"Of all the questions you might want to ask about angels, the only one you ever hear is how many can dance on the head of a pin..."
"Anatomy Lab"
"By year’s end, brittle with guilt, we hovered over our hollow creation..."
Shelter in Place
“Bringing us home, To ourselves, Our selves, Our bodies, our shelters…”
A Blues for Tyre
A psychiatric reflects on the latest news and remembers Tyre Nichols.
I Wish I Held My Father’s Hand
"I wish I could have caught his eye, delivered the silent message that I understood what he had to go through every day to keep the peace..."
Grief
“We are oceans, not boats.”
Ideas of Heaven
"My mother’s idea of heaven was a pulse, nurses in white spilling light across fields with hurricane lamps, bandage rolls, syringes, pain killers, stethoscopes, pressure cuffs, patella hammers."
Winter Evening Walking Meditation
“Breathing clouds at every turn, We hold what wisdom we must learn.”
25 Years of Poetry of the Times
Celebrating 25 years of Poetry of the Times with Richard Berlin, MD!
If You Ask Me My Name
"And if you like it simple, doctor will do."
Paper-White Narcissus
"There is no greater loneliness..."
“If You Ask Me My Name”
Welcome to 2023, the 25th year of Poetry of the Times with Richard Berlin, MD!
Running
A psychiatrist shares his experience of how running has been a constant for him throughout life’s changes.
Purposeful Light
“…The light of a new year.”
An American Sunrise
"We were running out of breath, as we ran out to meet ourselves..."
Positive Outcome
Even when facing the most difficult opponents, it's possible to win a positive outcome.
Coalescence
A psychiatrist reflects on his story...
The Tailors of Children’s Memorial
"It is Christmas eve and our patient lies on the table in twilight sleep..."
Jew-ish
A fourth-year medical student reflects on the non-traditional traditions that came from growing up in a 2-physician, 2-religion household.
Celebration: Birth of a Colt
"We wait, our bare feet dangling in the horse trough..."
Messenger
"My work is loving the world..."
Holiday Memoir
A psychiatrist shares memories of bonding over dance during the holiday season.
On Transience
"Behind his couch, Freud senses summer’s return, draws a puff, flicks the ash, smiles as he studies his undying ember."
The Great Fires
"Love is apart from all things. Desire and excitement are nothing beside it."
"On Transience"
"For no particular reason I lift my dusty volume of Freud’s Standard Edition from a shelf..."
When It All Explodes: A Love Letter to Pottery
“Pottery is life. The finished product is just a reminder of the steps taken on the way.”
I Am Bound for de Kingdom
"Look out for me I’m a-coming too..."
Abundance
Chemistry Lesson
"...her steady green eyes and naked display of farmgirl skill the chemistry that bonded us for life."
Posttraumatic Growth
Poetic musings on posttraumatic growth...
Healing
Reflecting on the process of healing...