Mystical Medicine

Medicine woman.
Teacher.
Shaman.
Poet.
Shield-maiden.

She is a fighter.
She is a forcefield of love.
She will see right through,
……….seduce you with truth.

She is emotive.
She is devoted.
She will lure you into a full-circle
……….love affair with medicine.

She is passion.
She is purpose.
She will give you permission to settle
……….in the essential elements of life.

She is divine connection.
She is peace, embodied.
She will nurture everything around her
……….to burst into life and thrive.

She knows that we must unmake
……….the things that are destroying us.

She knows which anchors can bear
……….the weight of that unmaking.

She knows that her presence
……….is prayer.

Notes from the interview that inspired this poem:

I got a sense right away that this woman had deep wisdom to share. She had been a doctor in Emergency Medicine for twenty-four years, and was working now as a leader in medicine and medical educator. “I’m going to use the right side of my brain for this conversation,” she began. She shared with me that she’d recently written some of her own poetry and shared it with her colleagues. They were deeply touched. It reminded her that her words can help others figure out how to be in times like these. She had been focused on equity, diversity, inclusion, and wellness for a long time in her career. “It’s mind-boggling to me we have to write papers on the most essential elements of life,” she said. “Now that I’ve trained myself on the scientific aspects of medicine, I have more ability to use my intuitive side; to see and feel people fully in order to build trust. This is how we move into a right relationship with medicine.” She realized that lately she had started swaying, but not yet drifting, away from her own right relationship with medicine. “I knew I needed to re-anchor myself, and so I did. I live in a world where I am truly grateful,” she said. I left this conversation feeling deeply impacted by this woman’s presence, and by the conviction and clarity that flowed through her in this conversation.

Interviewee: Anonymous, Physician
Listener Poet: Jenny Hegland