Tag: United States
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Franz Liszt and Lisztomania: “Le concert, c’est moi”
Elizabeth ColledgeJacksonville, Florida, United States Much has been written about the hysteria accompanying Beatlemania, and before that, the frenzies generated by Elvis, Sinatra, and similar artists, primarily musicians. But before the Beatles, before Elvis, before Frank, there was Franz Liszt, whose 1844 concert in Berlin shocked the musical world and generated the term and medical…
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Reading Lacan 1 – Reading Lacan 2 – Identification with the Aggressor
Sean MurphyChicago, Illinois, United States Created after reading the work of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, Reading Lacan 1 (top) and Reading Lacan 2 (bottom left) capture the abstract nature of his baroque speaking and writing styles. At the same time, they maintain through a bright color palette one goal of psychoanalysis: cure—and with it, hope.…
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The grieving one: On the death of a spouse
Paul RousseauCharleston, South Carolina, United States “A real experience of death isolates one absolutely. The bereaved cannot communicate with the unbereaved.”– Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man, 1971 “Alone” holds the word “one.” After the death of a spouse, we are al(one). ____ One pillow on the bed. One imprint on the sheet. One towel in…
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Bone headdress
Susan SampleSalt Lake City, Utah, United States After artwork created by a person with cancer Why tens of bones linkedwith silver chain intoan earthly veil? I gaze at other entries:hand-stitched quiltswith undulating seams. I am accustomedto O’Keeffe’s paintingof the lone cow skull; Ezekiel’s storyof dry, disconnectedbones strewn in a valley until divine breathbinds bone to…
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Dream on
Paul RousseauCharleston, South Carolina, United States ChartThis is a 32-year-old female with widely metastatic breast cancer admitted to the hospital for control of shortness of breath and pain. ____ Melissa sits slumped, mouth open, snoring. I pull a chair bedside and gently touch her shoulder. Her head jerks, startled. She wipes drool from her chin…
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Villanelle
Jolene WonChicago, Illinois, United States I did not know today would be your last –we see no end for those that we hold dear.If I had known I’d not have let it pass. The nurse who knows she can’t set down her taskscontinues on, tries not to shed a tear.I did not know today would…
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J. Marion Sims and the reputation-character distinction
Jack E. RiggsMatthew S. SmithMorgantown, West Virginia, United States “Reputation is what men and women think of us;character is what God and angels know of us.”— Thomas Paine (likely inaccurate attribution) Few medical legacies have been more controversial than that of J. Marion Sims, the Father of American Gynecology.1-3 Sims rose from humble and obscure…
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Stay inside: A toast to the frontline
Tyler BeauchampRushay AmarathAndy NguyenAugusta, Georgia, United States The COVID-19 pandemic introduced us to a danger we knew little of how to protect ourselves from. I had spent the last four years fighting for the chance to become a physician, and now, in March 2020, I found myself useless to help. My parents were doing everything…
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The emergency room doctor
Rob OttesenVero Beach, Florida, United States If you were to ask me, I like to have a glazed doughnut before I go to sleep because the sugar in the doughnut inhibits my body’s production of orexin, a neuropeptide, thereby ensuring a peaceful slumber. I also like the taste of the doughnut and the warm and fuzzy…