Voices in Humanism

Swan & the Folks
Wings fluttering the air with stealth depart,
She froze, deciphering the sound she heard.
The air is trembling, precisely like her heart…
Surely it’s nothing! Merely a bat or bird.
A sudden clench, with aim; unforgiving
Is this for real? Some short-circuited dream?
It’s over! By Jove, it’s just beginning!
She collapses, yet no-one minds her scream.
Conceived with indifference, it will bestow
Inflamed breaths, agony and endless grief
On strangely veiled faces.
In the middle,
The world is asleep, passing days filled with woe.
Metamorphosed bugs promise wry relief
To fractured souls, and her own acquittal.

Nikol Mladkova, MD, PhD, MPH
Resident PGY-4
Department of Radiation Oncology
Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital & Richard J. Solove Research Institute