The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine Poetry Contest

Appendix

Illustration 1

Open form poems. The annual poetry contest at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine invites poems of different lengths and structure. Below are examples of recent award-winning pieces in the Open Form category (reprinted here with the permission of the authors).

to be a great owner of a butterfly

it was something I came across—a child’s words

thanking her teacher for teaching her multiplication, division, map skills

and how to be a great owner of a butterfly

surprising because

although great butterfly owners must learn to be patient and gentle

and deeply kind to fragile creatures

unlike multiplication and division and map skills

no one measures these skills

and rarely do we notice so clearly when someone is teaching us these things

I think it may be the same in medicine

it is easy to measure whether or not we can calculate oncotic pressure

we remember who taught us how to diagnose anemia

yet it is just as important to learn how to be patient and gentle

and deeply kind

and sometimes simultaneously strong and certain and confidence inspiring?

we start out fumbling

and along the way

(careful: they are not always called “teacher”)

someone taught you how to be a great holder of hands

but also that there were times that someone might just

need space

there was a person who told you to slow your heart and calm your mind

as the hairs on your skin rose

in anticipation of the unfolding crisis

you were not born knowing

how to stay standing, all at once soft and strong and quiet

on the worst day of someone else’s life

do you remember who showed you these things?

who was it?

that taught you how to be a great owner of a butterfly?

© Lea Hoefer, 2016 First Place Winner

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Life has kicked me around

And taught me a thing or two

For sixty years I worked my bones, slowly growing old

Now all I have on me are words to say

Who would have foretold?

Thoughts no one much seems to want to hear

My presence, few could care.

So pleased to see you now

Sit down and stay a while

So pleased to see you now

Stay and share your smile

Your compassion and gentle touch

A light of hope in the darkness

My body worn and battered

Is long beyond your technology’s ability to save

And yet your care is healing

Giving hope beyond measure

You restore humanity, once though forever lost

Giving my soul new hope for the future

© Willard Sharp, 2016 Second Place Winner

Illustration 2

Six-Word Poems. One of the categories in the annual poetry contest at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is the six-word poem. Below are examples of recent award-winning pieces in this category (reprinted here with the permission of the authors).

Untitled

I would still choose her again.

(husband after his young wife died in the ICU)

© Bryan Smith, 2016 First Place Winner

Untitled

“We will watch and wait, together.”

(a shared decision, made)

© Zaina Zayyad, 2016 Second Place Winner