Poem-A-Day: Hospital Writing Workshop by Rafael Campo

January 3, 2014 Hospital Writing Workshop by Rafael Campo   Arriving late, my clinic having run  past 6 again, I realize I don't  have cancer, don't have HIV, like them,  these students who are patients, who I lead  in writing exercises, reading poems.  For them, this isn't academic, it's  reality:  I ask that they describe  an object right in front of them, to make  it come alive, and one writes about death,  her death, as if by just imagining  the softness of its skin, its panting rush  into her lap, that she might tame it; one  observes instead the love he lost, he's there,  beside him in his gown and wheelchair,  together finally again.  I take  a good, long breath; we're quiet as newborns.  The little conference room grows warm, and right  before my eyes, I see that what I thought  unspeakable was more than this, was hope.        Copyright © 2014 by Rafael Campo. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem  "The poem is based on my experiences over the years leading writing workshops for people living with illness (and also medical students and residents). I have witnessed first hand the power of writing poetry in abetting healing--poetry is able to name when the diagnosis eludes us, it calls us into community when symptoms makes us feel isolated or alone or even silenced, it engenders empathy when the doctor would distance himself--it even allows us to transcend our mortality by creating something that endures on the page long after we're gone. Many of the poems in my new book Alternative Medicine address such themes, and I hope ultimately makes the case for a practice of medicine that is more humane and compassionate than the depersonalized treatment our overreliance on science and technology has instead advanced. If my patients have taught me anything, it is that healing is just as important as curing--sometimes, even more so--and it is poetry that can help us bridge these two distinct responses to disease and suffering." --Rafael Campo  Most Recent Book by Campo The Enemy (Duke University Press, 2007)               Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the Poem-A-Day Archive.     Rafael Campo is the author of several books of poetry, including The Enemy (Duke University Press, 2007). He practices medicine and teaches creative writing at Lesley University in Massachusetts.  Related Poems Against Elegies by Marilyn Hacker The Nurse by Michael Blumenthal Workshop  by Billy Collins __________________________ Love reading Poem-A-Day? Help support it today.     Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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