Johanna Shapiro
Irvine, California
Photograph by Caley McIntyre
Northwestern University Feinberg Medical School, Chicago, Illinois
Class of 2011 and Mexico Fulbright-Garcia Robles Alum, 2009
http://caleyelguero.wordpress.com
Death is not my lover
– that would be morbid –
nor even my best friend
– though some say he can be that –
He is merely become
my near neighbor
having taken up residence next door
We are friendly
in a cool sort of way
Sometimes we wave
when we are pulling out from our driveways
I off to my work
he off to…his
We both joined the local Neighborhood Watch
to guard against suspicious elements
so he keeps an eye on me
– and I on him
Every so often, he borrows a cup of sugar
(so old-fashioned!)
I do not borrow anything from him
as I do not wish to be in his debt
I admit to some of the usual prejudices
before I got to know him better
The skeletal hands hanging menacingly
from that creepy robe
The hood, the scythe – it was so over the top
But in person he is more ordinary
He doesn’t even know how to play chess
and he is fond of gardening –
for which you must agree the scythe
makes some sense
In fact, as Miss Dickinson surmised,
he is a perfect gentleman
Although he works hard
he is never too busy to stop and chat
Do I think it looks like rain? he’ll ask
Or have I heard our property taxes are going up…
again?
Nothing certain but death and taxes
he likes to joke
Of course, we have the occasional
neighborly dispute
– my hedge is grown too high
his dog leaves unwanted gifts on my lawn –
But we work it out
That’s what neighbors do
And when at last I take that long trip
into eternity
I will have no qualms
about asking him to collect my mail
JOHANNA SHAPIRO, PhD, is professor of family medicine and director of the Program in Medical Humanities & Arts at the University of California – Irvine’s School of Medicine. As a psychologist and medical educator, she has focused her research and scholarship on various aspects of the doctor-patient relationship, including physician interactions with “difficult,” stigmatized, and culturally diverse patient populations. She is feature editor of the Family Medicine column, “Literature and the Arts in Medical Education,” poetry editor for Families, Systems, & Health, and poetry co-editor for the e-magazine Pulse. Her recent book, The Inner World of Medical Students: Listening to Their Voices in Poetry, is a critical analysis of important themes in the socialization process of medical students as expressed through their creative writing.
Highlighted in Frontispiece Volume 2, Issue 2 – Spring 2010
Leave a Reply