Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: W. Roy Smythe

  • The peach tree

    Roy Smythe Temple, Texas, United States   Souvenir de mauve, 1888 Vincent van Gogh Oil on canvas 73.0 x 59.5 cm In the hot Texas summer of my 77th year, my skin turned a little yella’, and I lost some weight. Doc Butler, who I’d been seein’ for ‘bout 30 years now, told me to…

  • What about the blood?

    W. Roy Smythe Temple, Texas, United States   Red blood cells in a vessel by Jemère Bohnert © 2011 My beeper went off again. I got up out of my seat in the empty hospital cafeteria, walked over to the wall phone and dialed zero. Zero is exactly how much energy I have for anything…