The commute to my office in downtown Seattle takes an off-ramp from I-5 that passes many homeless people sleeping and living under the freeway overpasses. Seeing the human condition reduced to destitution and suffering is painful for all of us. I carry care packages with supplies for basic hygiene and nutrition that I deliver to those seeking hand-outs. The images I see haunts me through days of work and nights at home. I write to see my feelings on the page and ponder the vagaries of life that allow me to live in relative comfort and ease compared to those on the street.
Shades of indigo on black
overlapping in squares and diamonds
spread the color of night into the city.
Outside the parabolas of street lamp halos
intersecting arcs of light with angled jagged edges
tear at the fabric of the dark.
Concrete roofs in endless lines
trace sine curves over once forested hills
sheltering cast-aways on paths of broken glass.
Sharp spikes in stairwells and alleyways
find their way through layers of tattered confusion
quieting the voices of limbic demons,
nodding by street-corner signs,
time held still as minutes and hours pass,
night falling into aching need.
Sadness at its core is empathy,
the currency exchanged for meaning
amidst the suffering.
James Dunstan, MD
Jyoti Rau MD, PhD
William (Bill) Hunter, MD
J. Richard Gaskill
Peggy Latare
Quentin Eichbaum, MD, PhD, MPH, MFA, FCAP
Kenneth Gould, MD
David Godley, MD
Cindy Lopez, RN
Joanie Aasen, MSN, RN
Manfred Hauben, MD, MPH
Cook’s Meadow Early Morning Yosemite National Park
Jorge A Ramirez, MD
David True, MD
Crash Cesarean: Poetry in Motion
Shane Geffe
Louise Glaser, MD, FAAP
David True, MD
Samuel K Williams, III, MD, CPG
Quentin Eichbaum, MD, PhD, MPH, MFA, FCAP
Jennifer Phillips, MD
Imanni Sheppard, PhD
Usha Tatini, MD
Brad Christian McDowell, MD, FACS
Mara Saulitis, MD
Abdalla Mallouk, MD
Abdalla Mallouk, MD
FDR Drive / Homage to the Photon
Manfred Hauben, MD, MPH
Alana Castens Yalom
Talha H Imam, MD
Pamela Lemke, CNM, MS
Ghosts of the Northern Plains: Abandoned Farmhouse
Stephen Henry, MD
Ghosts of the Northern Plains: Outbuildings
Stephen Henry, MD
Maranda Herner
Heritage Irises at Filoli Gardens
Sarah Beekley, MD
Abdalla Mallouk, MD
Hope—Redwood National Forest, California
Sapna Reddy, MD
Paul Rousseau, MD
Jo Paluzzi, PhD
Shenshen Dou
David True, MD
Shenshen Dou
Shenshen Dou
Shenshen Dou
David Clarke, MD
Mount Ansel Adams and Lyell Ford of the Merced River, Yosemite National Park
J. Richard Gaskill
Quentin Eichbaum, MD, PhD, MPH, MFA, FCAP
Ariel Scott, MD
Gail Wright, MD
Pistils and Stamens with Shades of Lavender
Michael House, LCSW
Imanni Sheppard, PhD
Gail Wright, MD
Kenneth Gould, MD
Quentin Eichbaum, MD, PhD, MPH, MFA, FCAP
James Dunstan, MD
Manfred Hauben, MD, MPH
Mihal Emberton, MD, MPH, MS
Kevin Dueck MD MSc
Brad Christian McDowell, MD, FACS
Kelly Chen
Sunset at Yellowstone National Park
Jorge A Ramirez, MD
Sunset in Taos: Simple, Serene, Stunning
Usha Tatini, MD
Rebecca Chasnovitz, MD
Taos Mountain Over High Grass Meadow
Usha Tatini, MD
Shenshen Dou
Usha Tatini, MD
The Bells of San Juan Capistrano Mission
Ira J Levy, MD
Jyoti Rau MD, PhD
Megan Bostic
The Hanging Gardens of Suburbia
Belinda Torres Mary, MHS, MFA, MLS
William Lynes, MD
Andy Runkle, MD
Alana Castens Yalom
The Professor of Medicine Demonstrates …
Ron Louie, MD
Today, I Feel My Age. Or, Small triumph: I made it home!
Margaret Fortsch, RN
Belinda Torres Mary, MHS, MFA, MLS
Deborah Chiarucci, MD
What Happens After Pediatrics?
Louise Glaser, MD, FAAP
Usha Tatini, MD