Introduction

Introduction

     I have been writing poetry since medical school...I remember one beautiful sunny Saturday in U. of Cincinnati College of Medicine when I spent the day supposedly studying pathology, but instead creating a poem based on The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot, duplicating rhythms, rhymes, symbols, and recalling my experiences as a first year student having spent the day with the poor on the banks of the Ohio river.  I gave that poem to the drummer in the medical school band never to be seen again.  That explains my grade in Pathology that test.  During residency at Children's Hospital, in those romantic pre-digital days, I kept a small black notebook in my white coat with myriads of facts on lab values, diagnoses, symptoms, but my favorite, dog-eared tab was under "P" for poetry.  Those poems kept my heart centered and motivated on a hopeful pursuit of a life of empathy: Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold, The Lake Isle of Innesfree by Yeats...and Keats.  I still have that book.

     Many of these poems deal with the pathos that I witnessed in my medical practice.  It seems that the joyful moments I transcribed into thousands of anecdotes stuffed into my pockets during the busy day; but the deeper stuff, the losses and struggles found an outlet in my poetry.  During the years, my poetry had evolved to encompass my other struggles and dreams and I am thankful.  I hope you enjoy these.

glennlouisfeole@gmail.com