Re: Lost Poem

Greetings:

I searched the archives and came up with this info:

Mon, 9 Feb 1998 18:20:25 -0500 (EST)
Campus Outreach Opportunity League (@)

Below is a poem written by a Janice Mehnert, a second-year
medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and former
participant in HIPHOP's Clinic / Home Visit Program. I think the words
capture why many of us do what we do and serves as a very useful reminder
of those reasons.

Ward Carpenter
HIPHOP Techincal Administrator

*******************************************************************************

HIPHOP
The Homeless and Indigent Population Health Outreach Project
c/o Dept of Environmental and Community Medicine, Rm N-109
675 Hoes Ln Piscataway, NJ 08854
Phone: (732) 235-4198 Fax: (732) 235-4569
E-mail: hiphop@umdnj.edu Web: www2.umdnj.edu/hhopweb
*******************************************************************************

UNGRATEFUL

The chart sits on the rack outside the door.
I rifle through it to find the Chief Complaint,
Moaning and groaning inside about my long day,
My pounding head,
My itchy eyes,
My aching calves,
The nail I broke this morning,
The guy who never called me back.
Singing the blues,
Feeling sorry for myself,
For my poor overworked body
For my cluttered and clouded mind
For all the things in my life
That aren't perfect.

The patient suffers from back pain.
No different from me, I think,
Every day I wake up with sore muscles from the gym,
Sore shoulders from sitting hunched over studying.
My eye skims the page
And I notice her date of birth...
It's the same as mine
Same month,
Same day
Same year.
I open the door,
Nearly recoiling with surprise.
At twenty two years old,
I'm still a kid
Barely able to take care of myself.
This woman I see,
Is the same age as me?
Her hair is disheveled unraveled yarn
Next to my locks, smooth and coifed;
Her teeth are cracked and missing
Next to my pearly whites, straightened by braces;
Her clothes are big and bulky, layers to protect her
from the cold
Next to my silky dress and white doctor's coat.
Her eyes struck to the root of my soul.
Not even her thick glasses could
Shield their dull pain,
Their tired black circles
Mirrored in my cool green pools.
I take a history to discover the problem.
She works in a warehouse,
Night shift till dawn.
It's dusty in there
And she lifts heavy boxes
Of pampers and formula
Eight hours a clip.
The pain is so bad she can't sleep at night,
She thinks it's a muscle she pulled.
"I need a letter for my work," she insists.
"Otherwise, they might fire me."
When I touch her back she yelps in agony.
The muscles are pulpy and tender.
I scribble my notes with a smile
That masks my dismay.
As I leave, I catch my eyes in a mirror.
They are rightly filled with shame
At my petty mournings.
I did nothing to be born
Healthy
Loved
Secure...
Pure circumstance, is all.
She did nothing to be born
Poor
Tired
Prone to sickness...
Pure circumstance, is all.
We were born on the same day,
My astrological sister,
But my stars were lucky.

I am not thin.
I am not rich.
I am not beautiful.
My life is not easy.
I am not perfect.
But today was a sign
To stop thinking about what I'm not
And to use what I am
To help others.

- Janice M. Mehnert

I think this is the one you are looking for.

Vicki McEvoy
Information Specialist
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
1-800-808-7378

Pam Branin wrote:

> Dear Listserv Members,
>
> I'm hoping one of you will be able to help me out. A few years ago
> (1996-1998?) there was a poem sent out via this list written by a medical
> student participating in the HIPHOP program (I think this is the correct
> acronym). It was titled, as I remember, "Ungrateful." I can only remember
> bits and pieces of it, "my astrological sister," "time to stop complaining
> about what I don't have and doing something with what I do."
>
> I had a copy and have lost it. I am the teaching assistant for a
> service-learning lab at a small state university in southern Utah and have
> usually shared this poem with students. It has been a very effective
> discussion opener. If you have a this (or know where I might find it), I
> would appreciate a copy ASAP (I have already searched the list archives to
> no avail)! Thanks very much!
>
> Pam Branin
> braninp@suu.edu
>
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