"Wounds"

Author(s):

Richard M. Berlin, MD

Key Takeaways

Richard Berlin's poem "Wounds" reflects on his experiences with surgical patients and their post-op delirium.
His poetry emphasizes the skills of surgeons, the expertise of nurses, and the resilience of patients and families.
For 26 years, Berlin has contributed monthly poems to Psychiatric Times, drawing from his medical experiences.
He is an instructor in psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and author of Tender Fences.

"Here the body’s art conspires with destruction..."

Any Good Poem

Richard Berlin, MD, shares his poem "Wounds," which was recently featured in the December 2024 issue of Psychiatric Times.

As a consultation-liaison psychiatrist, Berlin spent a fair amount of time seeing wounded surgical patients who needed additional care to manage their post-op delirium. These experiences gave him a deep appreciation of the surgeons and their skills; the nurses’ caring and expertise; the strength of families, loved ones, and the patients’ themselves.

Dr Berlin has been writing a poem about his experience of being a doctor every month for the past 26 years in Psychiatric Times in a column called “Poetry of the Times.” He is instructor in psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts. His latest book is Tender Fences.