Pulmonary Division Participates in 2020 DOM Shelter-in-Poetry Contest
For the April 2020 DOM Shelter-in-Poetry Contest, participants shared their poems. Many of the Pulmonary Division's staff and faculty participated - Narda Serrano, Kamran Atabai, MD, Mallar Bhattacharya, MD, Tian Yuan (Tracy) Chen, and Tien Peng, MD. Tracy wrote 1 of the 15 winning poems!
Here are our division's poems:
Come with me
I take my money and I take my pride
I look for you on the other side
I take my loss and and find my way back to you
You know I'm home
Kamran Atabai, MD, Assistant Professor
______________________________________
The Wind
Life floats out beyond the breakers-
Let it come back to you,
Your feet planted
In shifting sand;
The wind reminds you of a time when you ran with the pack
If now the pack is gone.
Mallar Bhattacharya, MD, Associate Professor
____________________________________________
A mi madre
(Spanish with English translation by the author)
Mujer de atípica fortaleza
Nunca pudiste esconder tu sencilla grandeza
Madre de firmes corajes y agallas
Emprendiste tu propio viaje derribando todas las vallas
Te fuiste sin avisar
Sin opción a acompañar
Te fuiste segura y a paso ligero
En tu afán de encontrarte con Dios primero
Me dejaste fría, me dejaste en penumbra
Pero aún siento la tibieza de tu luz que alumbra
Me dejaste fría, me dejaste en sollozos
Pero recordé que me regalaste experiencias y años gloriosos
Ilumíname desde allá y abrígame con tu amor
Prométeme que así será y te prometo que ya no habrá dolor.
To my mother
Woman of an atypical strong-ness
Could never conceal your humble greatness
Women gifted of courage and guts
You decided to undertake your own trip and follow God dots
Without saying a word
You left me alone
You couldn’t wait for me
I couldn’t reach you and see
You left me in total uncertainty
But I still feel your shine and tepidity
You left me in total gloom
But, I remembered your dream was watching me bloom.
Guide me from there and embrace me with your infinity love
Promise me you will and I promise my pain will be gone.
Narda Serrano, Research Finance Administrator
_______________________________________
For the World Has Gone Quiet Now
Mesmerizing sunshine flits through the glass,
Beckoning like a mother does to her child.
Come. Come outside, the golden siren calls.
Warmth seeps into the ground, heralding winter’s last steps
As spring dances and floats her way in.
But the streets are empty, not a human to be seen,
For the world has gone quiet now.
Little green spears push through the dirt
Where the morning dew welcomes their birth.
Even the bees are rejoicing, buzzing among
The silky pink petals of the royal sakura trees.
But there is no one to enjoy the sweet fragrance
Before the trees shake off their petals like snow,
For the world has gone quiet now.
A little fox wanders into the backyard
Where the neighbor’s little girl would usually play
Among her mother’s favorite yellow and red tulips.
The creature’s bright eyes look piercingly back
As I gaze upon its rust colored pelt and curious tail.
Mother Nature breathes more freely than she did in years
For the world has gone quiet now.
Tian Yuan (Tracy) Chen, Staff Research Associate
_______________________________________
Home Schooling
"Next episode please!"
Paw Patrol theme song blaring.
Half an hour of peace.
Tien Peng, MD, Assistant Professor
_______________________________________