poem
The ImmortalsIn the palace of Borges ’ ImmortalsNothing made any architectural sense.Staircases narrowed to triangular pointsDarkened corridors dead-endedInto cinder block walls The basement was just a voidThat fell to the center of the earthCeilings were on the floorAnd the floors, well, they wereJust a certain kind of ceiling.Tiny trap doors opened into cathedral-likeDining halls. Arching gilded portals Led to monkish hovels barelyLarge enough for a cot. As I wanderedThese grounds I came upon an idea,A train of thought that seemed to makeSense of it all. In the following lines I will attemptTo conv...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - May 9, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Names, Numbers We chop up time into chunksEither named or enumerated.Seconds and minutesAre simply numbered.Hours are a little strangeMostly a rotating set of integersExcept for noon and midnightDawn and duskMorning and eveningTwilight and half light.The days get their own namesHonoring the pagan gods of yoreBut weeks are just weeksSorting themselves into blocks of monthsWhich are kind of funny too —A mashup of names and numeralsAs if Caesar ran out of things to acclaimMore than half way throughAnd just finished it off at the end With a few Roman ordinals.But then the years are backTo being just numbersSt...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - May 7, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
BirdsongMy favorite birdsong in the morning Goesfwipp, fwipp, fwipp, fwipp, fyooouuYou don't even know what I ’m Talking about, do you?You ’re not hereIn my frosted dawn.If you heard it you ’d probably Spell it differently, Maybe you ’d hear an “r”Between the “f” and the “w”.That ’s all we’re doing hereWriting poemsChasing after winds Trying to stop time.We listen, we pay attentionThen try to get some of it downAll the world is just birdsong,Beautiful sounds happeningInside our own heads.Maybe I can get you to start listening tooWho knows what you ’ll hearMaybe somet...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - May 1, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
DancingI just want to hold you againWe ’ll put on some music And call it dancingTurn off the furnaceAnd call it cuddlingWatch a sad movie togetherAnd call it comfortingTrade in the king for a twinAnd call it spooningI ’d love to spend a lifetimeThinking of ways Of putting my arms around you That ’s why I keep leavingWe call it saying goodbye 5/1/22 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - May 1, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Dead SpringIn my spring nothing growsLeafless trees splay Across the sky As frazzle headed wicks Of burned down candles Too smoked to know they ’re dead No grass needs mowedNo buds or bloomsIt ’s a season bereft of color—At least of any that I can see.I only know it ’s springBy the shift in the wind But no matterSoon it will be sweltering summerEverything moist and stickyThe drone of beesAnd crabgrass and weedsEveryone just gives up and sweatsFanning themselves on screened porches Too languorous to utter a single word I look forward to the fallThe ferrousfeuille morte e...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 26, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Op Note XIXThat ’s not the liver, I told the resident, and that’s not the spleen. The resident squinted his eyes over his mask at me. What do you mean, he queried. It must be so. Both anatomically and in the morphologic sense it appears we have happened upon structures highly suggestive of. He was a high performer. He knew his books cold. I just laughed. You ’ve never been here before, have you? Not like this. This is your first time. In here we are gods. Here, things have no names. There was a tight flurry of action and change on the screen.&nbs...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 24, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
NowNow is only for nowNot to be the fulcrumUpon which yourPast pivots into futureNor the portal throughWhich the wasBecomes your will Just nowThe vantage pointThat conjures both Everything lostAnd all to be gainedInto a tentative existence 4/24/22 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 24, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Unexpected Full MoonIt ’s March and I didn't expectAn early morning full moonHanging there fat and lowJust above the road A swirl of salmon coralIn the near expired nightAn unripe peach or oneOf Jupiter ’s lesser moons It ’s easy to forget our moonNever turns its back,Steadfast though darkened by day The selfless sentry watching over usLike forgotten Prometheus Eternally pecked by scavengersIts sad pocked face weeping mascaraReflecting whatever light it seesStreaming over our shouldersLike a sad lost parent Who must smile When his child Does something banal Showing ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 24, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Burn OutOn call all the timeCan ’t remember the last dayI didn ’t go into the hospitalI think 21 days in a row Now, not sure, the suns and moonsRunning together you stop caringAbout the day, the time So much about yourselfAnd then everything elseExcept for the task at hand;An abscess to lanceA port to placeLeft colon to mobilize The perfectly arrayed meshNo before or afterEverything distilled down To the timeless immediacy Slicing my daysInto bracketed sliversEvery incision only happening nowThere are unintended side effects Of course, emotional detachmentDisengagement, psychic...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 19, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Easter PoemIn his own particular heartGutei knew the fundamentalMeaning of Zen as a single raised finger.When his attendant attemptedTo convey this idea to a pilgrimGutei sliced off the poor boy ’s fingerAnd asked him the old question once again:What is the meaning of Zen?And when the boy spontaneouslyTried to raise his missing fingerHe became truly enlightened.This weekend, when we ask the meaning Of Easter we look to the crossAnd see a man suffering for our sins But the meaning of the ChristianKoan is the emptiness of a tomb,An abandoned shroud tossedHaphazardly on a dusty slab,A quaternion of soldiers ...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 17, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Poem #40As soon as I finish this poemI ’ll end it for good.Bullet to the headSwan dive off the overpassSwallow a bottle of pillsOr inhale the sweet gas.But first I have to put this to bed.I ’d even accept something A few slivers short of sublime.But anytime I get closeIt always seems To need one more line.4/16/22 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 16, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Deep DiveIt ’s possible to read too muchTo dive too deepInto impenetrable texts To attempt to wrap your mindToo widely around A set of fundamental truths A certain breadth Of knowledge ruins thingsYou start to realize that The intricate architecture of snowflakes Can always be melted down Into shapeless blobs of rainThat a full moonIs just a glimmer Of all the lightWe nightly turn fromThat the skyIs not really blueJust an illusionOf photonic scatteringIt ’s easy toOverthink it all.One morningI wake upConvinced I ’m noLonger in love with you.So I go back to basics —A mut...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 16, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
HawksLately, I ’ve been Noticing birds of preySlow-circling confidently High above but not highEnough to relieve the uneasySense of impending attackRed-tailed and Cooper ’s hawks Soaring over us allLike silent watchful drones Against a deep blue void.Squirrels aren ’t the onlyOnes to be alarmed A gentle reminder, every timeYou dare to look upYou may espy a hunter,Always on the hunt,And something else below — Small, fearful, desperately alive —Scuttling through long grassesFrisked by winged shadows.4/12/22 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 12, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
MeltsI like to think I was good onceLong before I began to fall.I like to imagine that raindropsBegin as beautiful crystalline Snowflakes only to melt Into unlovely wet blobsJust like all the others, caughtIn a long unstoppable fallIt ’s a shame that such beautyBegins in cold stillnessBeyond the reach of eyes,That our intricate designMust lose its original form.But such is the price of a life,Of hurtling down to earth.I ’m older now and Nearing terminal velocity.I was beautiful once.I used to shimmer in the sun.But now the earth is parchedAnd I sense my son is thirsty.4/10/22 (Source: Buckeye Surgeon)
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 12, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
poem
Op Note XVIIIOur expectations were guarded. Two months of pain and nausea and malaise. Weight loss. A failure to thrive. Suspicious findings on CT scan. Her daughter said that ever since her husband died, she ’d been writing him letters. No one knew where she kept them. One night, while her mom was writing, she brought her a cup of tea. As she placed it on the table she saw over her shoulder a snatch of what she had written: I think I am dying. My love, I will see you soon. We offered to explore her, hoping for the best. She had been suffering so and was in such g...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - April 4, 2022 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
