The Facts of Life

Any Good Poem

In this, the 250th episode of the Any Good Poem series, Richard Berlin, MD, shares the poem "The Facts of Life," by Pádraig Ó Tuama. Ó Tuama is the author of 4 poetry collections and the editor of the anthology Poetry Unbound, a collection of poems with his deep, passionate analysis of each one. He is also the editor of the memoir In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World, a book of spiritual reflection.

From 2014 to 2019, Ó Tuama was the leader of the Corrymeela Community, Ireland’s oldest peace and reconciliation organization, which works with over 10,000 individuals a year to transform division through human encounters. Ó Tuama lives in Ireland and teaches poetry all over the world.

Dr Berlin would like to thank MJH Life Sciences and Michael J. Hennesy; Psychiatric Times Editor-in-Chief John J. Miller, MD; editorial director, Heidi Anne Duerr, MPH; and assistant managing editor, Leah Kuntz.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 27 years in Psychiatric Times in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is an instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. His latest book is Tender Fences.