In the spirit of appreciation for common sense, I offer the following:

MY DOCTOR'S BAG

Like all medical school graduates, I received a free monogrammed
doctor's bag from the pharmaceutical industry. In time, my bag wore
out, and I gave it to my father to hold his tools.

As a machinist, carpenter, and home gardener, my father made good use
of my bag; and sometimes he pretended that he was a doctor making
house calls.

Although my father never went to college and didn't understand
medicine, he did understand that the body is a machine that needs
nutritious fruits and vegetables which can be grown at home.

It took me many years of study and practice to understand what my
father intuitively understood. I wish that my medical education had
included courses from practical-minded, plain-spoken, earthy people
like my father.

Let's learn to appreciate such people, because they have much to offer
those of us with more knowledge than common sense.

Hugh Mann
http://organicMD.org
http://www.organicmd.org/doctorbag.html
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/337/dec16_2/a2677#206493

In the spirit of theology, I offer the following:

WHAT IS RELIGION?

Notwithstanding all of its respectful liturgy and doxology, religion
is, in part, frustration and anger with the Creator, who gave us
enough intelligence to understand life's dilemmas, but not enough
intelligence to do anything about it.

Hugh Mann
http://organicMD.org
http://www.organicmd.org/prosepoetry.html#RELIGION
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/338/mar17_3/b1075#210917

In the spirit of sympathy, I offer the following:

WHAT IS PAIN?

Pain is the penalty for living: a toothache is the penalty for eating;
a backache is the penalty for moving; and a heartache is the penalty
for loving. Alas, life and pain are inseparable.

Hugh Mann
http://organicMD.org
http://www.organicmd.org/aphorisms.html
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/338/jan14_1/b107#207692

In the spirit of connecting the past to the present, I offer the
following:

BREAD & CIRCUS

Imperial Rome pacified the common people with free food and gladiator
contests at the Colosseum, which the satirist, Juvenal, called bread
and circus. Sadly, little has changed since those days; governments
continue to pacify the common people with bread and circus. But today,
the bread is welfare, provided by the liberals; the circus is warfare,
provided by the conservatives; and the Colosseum is television,
provided by the media.

Hugh Mann
http://organicMD.org
http://www.organicmd.org/prosepoetry.html#CIRCUS
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/339/sep14_1/b3735#222375

In the spirit of healthcare reform, I offer the following:

YOUR HEALTH DEPENDS ON YOU

Life is a quest for love. In order to receive love, we must be
dependent. In order to give love, we must be independent. The conflict
between dependence and independence affects every facet of our lives.

Life and love begin with our parents. As helpless babies, we depend on
their care. With the right kind of care, we learn to love them and
ourselves. With the right kind of parenting, we learn dependence and
independence.

Of course, there is no perfect parenting. So we all have trouble with
dependence and independence. Sometimes we are dependent when we should
be independent, and vice versa.

Healthcare is reminiscent of childhood. The doctor is our parent, and
we are helpless babies. We feel secure in his office, and long for his
concern, reassurance, and medicine. We are awed by his jargon, worship
his intellect, and feel totally dependent.

Of course, healthcare is not childhood. The doctor is not our parent,
and we are not helpless babies - no matter how much we wish this were
true. Sometimes, the doctor's words, procedures, and medicine do not
solve our health problems.

Often, our health problems are the result of dehydration,
malnutrition, and addiction. These problems are self-inflicted and
require changes in our attitude and lifestyle. It takes independence
and courage to make these changes.

Hugh Mann
http://organicMD.org
http://www.organicmd.org/yourhealth.html
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/334/7602/1055#166888

"A grain of sand is a desert, and a desert is a grain of sand; and now let us all be silent again"

There are innumerable ways to count grains of sand. Kalil Gibran is using a metaphor of the desert and the relationship of a grain of sand to the desert.

I am sorry that I cannot say more but the explanation that you want if one examines the poetry of romantics like Rumi and Gibran is in their cultural imperatives. The Persian culture of the time in which they lived and practiced their art is far removed from our experience. The only way to understand their work is by listening to their culture and the idiom that defines that world view. It is imperative for a reader of poetry to see through his or her lens the world and take from that experience what he or she chooses. Therefore the grain of sand may be each distinct person or place that you have known, or where you have walked, or the unfolding world that flows in the ebb and flow of life.

The images evoke connecting and inter connecting. We are interdependent and not separate and defined by the person as much as the place in which we are and the timing.

Poetry has distinct protocols for the genre, depending on where it was written and when. Each word is highly charged with meaning. In my poetry I am seeking to evoke a perspective of life and rhythm that is present and I resonate with artists who achieve the same end like Wordsworth, Gibran, Rumi, Hughes and Whitman.

One of my favorite lines is: "I burn my candle at both ends; it will not last the night. But ah my friends and oh my foes, what a lovely light." This is for me a mantra of my being. Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote this in the context of the meaning, scope and purpose of her existence. For me this calls us to profound sense and sensibility about what we choose to do and how we choose to accomplish the task of living our life. We can interpret that this is hedonistic but I choose to see this as a call to arms against the extinguishing of the flame and to rise above the din and clatter of the world to live well. I always say to my friends, "Go well stay well,” which I mean to ask them for purpose and to do the good. In all of my heroes there is a spirit of devotion to earth and a purpose in performing everyday miracles. One of my friends recently said that she has a bumper sticker that states, "Normal people worry me."

I am writing a compilation of ordinary thought because the way we face the simplest challenges, like boredom, means the difference between living well and disappearing into oblivion.

In the spirit of understanding health, I offer the following:

WHAT IS HEALTH?

Health is metabolic efficiency. Sickness is metabolic inefficiency.
Nobody is totally healthy or totally sick. Each of us is a unique
combination of health and sickness. And each of us has a unique
combination of abilities and disabilities, both emotional and physical.

As we grow up, we learn that we are loved for our abilities but hated
for our disabilities. This happens at home, at play, at school, and at
work. Sometimes, this even happens with our doctors, especially if our
disabilities mystify them or remind them of their own disabilities.

So, we try to hide our disabilities from people and from ourselves.
This charade undermines our relationships and our self-esteem. We
learn to fear society and hate ourselves.

Self-hatred is the most debilitating sickness. It interferes with our
ability to seek and accept help. And everybody needs help. How do we
free ourselves from self-hatred?

First, we reclaim our disabilities, whether society accepts them or
not. This means that we learn to accept ourselves. Then, we cope with
our disabilities. This means that we learn to take care of ourselves.

Hugh Mann
http://organicMD.org
http://www.organicmd.org/whatishealth.html
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/330/7493/721#140864
http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/119-1242/2243/

Carry on now

As I stirred in my dreaming and rose to the window to look out I could see that the smoke cleared and the din passed.

I looked in the mirror and saw you, heard you mumbling and calling my name; there was no one to see.

I have been wandering for a long time in my finest looking for a chance to say I know.

I remember when we walked together through the long nights and kept each other warm and calm.

I remember the same feeling when I rushed to your side and held you close as though I would never forget.

I have not left.