Deirdre Neilen, PhD: Alexandra Tatarian is a second-year medical student here at Upstate. She won the F. Sean Hodge Prize for Poetry in Medicine with this beautiful lyric called "One Pandemic Perspective":
We grieve the 500,000 lives taken too soon,
the suffering, isolation, and virtual goodbyes
led by healthcare heroes with heavy hearts,
our beings dampened, tinted, jarred, snuffed.
We then grieve what we never knew,
trips, gatherings, embraces, every
facet of life taken for granted as
plans unraveled around spinning spools.
We
stayed home
and masked up
dreamed of faraway places
and bright smiles
longed for rich experiences
and full facial expressions
that were never ours to share
as human nature receded.
We
attempted to imagine the Unknown
and read under the mask
draw its every detail
and remember each dimple
until it only grew stranger
how odd it is to ask
How best can we grieve you?
Do you have a mustache?
We bear such great grief
it may help not to dwell
on the what ifs and instead
appreciate what we know.
We
fine-tuned family recipes
and found fabrics that speak
while enjoying time at home
after attempting to sew.
We
realized our connectedness
in changing dressing habits
with new daily routines
growing comfortable.
And
when the pandemic ceases
and the masks come off
we will visit new places
feel the sunshine on our skin
That's where we will go!
That's what you look like!
What a beautiful view.
What a lovely smile.
