physician honorable mention
I Believe, You Believe
By Marilyn Aschoff Mellor, M.D.
I write because I love to write. There are times when certain patients leave a strong impression on me, and I find them showing up in my poetry. This was such an incident. It made me step back and consider that what I believe is but one small perspective in the grand scheme of life. The poem is still new and continues to be a work in progress.
Marilyn Aschoff Mellor practices in the emergency department at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in St Paul. She is a past Medical Musings winner.
I Believe, You Believe
Like an unsecured sail
in the face of a gathering storm
she lies propped up
panting softly, skin sallow
against bleached hospital sheets.
Leukemic and rock-bottom anemic
this child of Jehovah’s Witnesses
needs blood to survive.
Her jaw set father
refuses transfusions.
Her mother, drinking tears,
disappears from the dialogue.
His words, my words swirl
with all of us aware of prevailing winds.
Would they could feel the breath of God
in the court order for treatment.