Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Tulsi Patel

  • I’m listening

    Tulsi PatelChicago, Illinois, United States To the gentle whispers of the summer breeze,The carpenter ants’ chatter in the trees,A firefly’s luminous flash in the night,A saguaro’s water, still and quiet.The ocean’s froth, a fierce collision.Then, hoarse vocal cords, a trach’d admission,Eyes’ wells fill, glistening and bright,LVADs’ hum, a steady pump’s right. I listen close till…

  • Aphasia

    Tulsi PatelChicago, Illinois, United States Paint chips Plume of smoke Plume of feathers Peach pits Petty parrot Paris — In muddled speech dwells a world unknown,Where ordered words once danced, now overthrown.Broca’s realm, a twisted maze,Where language hides in veiled haze.The mind’s expression, bound and tied,An overpass collapsed, connections dried. Thoughts in motion, stammer and…

  • Metastatic sarcoma

    Tulsi PatelChicago, Illinois, United States His big regret was never building his son a trampoline,now locked away in the shed like some treasure chest he can’t open.Eyes welling up, he says to me proudly, resignedly“16 tumors”before he coughs up a river of rotten red roses. On his chest I press my stethoscope down, softlyhe worries…