FEATURED POEM
Left Right in the Middle
I look to my right,
I see flowers full of life
a distraught wife,
and pictures from his life.
This illness, there’s a cure, right?
I look to my left,
I see scans of the chest
staff doing their best,
vent pumping air to the chest.
This illness, there’s no cure left.
I look straight ahead,
I see him frozen in bed
knocked out by Versed,
as I stand at the foot of the bed.
This illness, death beckoning ahead.
I am a bridge between
the left and right team.
A learner trying to glean
my place in the healthcare team.
This illness, has me in between.
We are the middle,
where we ought to be
for bridges can be
a witness to what left and right cannot see.
Seeing both worlds simultaneously.
Anjola Onadipe
Anjola Onadipe is a fourth-year medical student at University of Michigan Medical School. After his third year, he decided to pause medical school and pursue a Master of Theological Studies degree from Duke Divinity School (DDS). At DDS he studied the intersection of spirituality, religion, and health through the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Fellowship program. He became interested in reading and writing poetry after taking a course at DDS on poetry within the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Anjola plans to pursue residency training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Med-Peds).