Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

When you die: a poem

Drea Burbank, MD
Physician
November 29, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

I will tell you exactly
And only the facts.

You are trapped a little for a time
And unhappy

Then your face hollows and it has a death mask
As the soul withdraws from the body

And you look at me and tell me who you see
It is always someone,
Sitting there like me,
But on the other side of things
Waiting for you.

And suddenly you become a column of white light
And leave the body all at once
Going upward,
I know not where.

And the body flickers, because it had a light and it is going out
And it shimmers for a bit
And then it is just a body,

And you are gone.

And sometimes I see you
In my mind’s eye
Standing beside me
Making idle conversation
About love.

Drea Burbank is a physician-entrepreneur.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Self-care should now be your plan

November 29, 2021 Kevin 1
…
Next

Physician communication using the tools of a trial attorney [PODCAST]

November 29, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Palliative Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Self-care should now be your plan
Next Post >
Physician communication using the tools of a trial attorney [PODCAST]

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Drea Burbank, MD

  • How doctors can regain control of their software

    Drea Burbank, MD
  • How doctors should organize

    Drea Burbank, MD
  • How physicians are mishandling technology

    Drea Burbank, MD

Related Posts

  • Doctors die. But the good ones leave a legacy.

    Jaime B. Gerber, MD
  • Why health care replaced physician care

    Michael Weiss, MD
  • What it is like to watch someone die

    Casey Krickus
  • What medicine can learn from a poem

    Thomas L. Amburn
  • How we can help our veterans die in peace

    Diane D. Blier, DNP
  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD

More in Physician

  • Why every physician needs a sabbatical (and how to take one)

    Christie Mulholland, MD
  • The moral injury of “not medically necessary” denials

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • Is physician unionization the answer to a broken health care system?

    Allan Dobzyniak, MD
  • The decline of professionalism in medicine: a structural diagnosis

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • The patchwork era of medical board certification

    Brian Hudes, MD
  • How neurodiversity in relationships shapes communication

    Farid Sabet-Sharghi, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights

      Travis Walker, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Putting health back into insurance: the case for tobacco cessation

      Edward Anselm, MD | Policy
    • Will AI replace primary care physicians?

      P. Dileep Kumar, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why every physician needs a sabbatical (and how to take one)

      Christie Mulholland, MD | Physician
    • Ghost networks in health care: Why physicians are suing insurers

      Timothy Lesaca, MD | Physician
    • Navigating the medical system requires specific life skills [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why patient trust in physicians is declining

      Mansi Kotwal, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Is primary care becoming a triage station?

      J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD | Physician
    • How environmental justice and health disparities connect to climate change

      Kaitlynn Esemaya, Alexis Thompson, Annique McLune, and Anamaria Ancheta | Policy
    • A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights

      Travis Walker, MD, MPH | Physician
    • The blind men and the elephant: a parable for modern pain management

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Conditions
    • Is tramadol really ineffective and risky?

      John A. Bumpus, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • Focusing on outcomes over novelty prevents AI failure in health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What is the minority tax in medicine?

      Tharini Nagarkar and Maranda C. Ward, EdD, MPH | Education
    • Putting health back into insurance: the case for tobacco cessation

      Edward Anselm, MD | Policy
    • Why Brooklyn’s aging population needs more vascular health specialists

      Anil Hingorani, MD | Conditions
    • Escaping the golden cage of traditional medical practice to find joy again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why pediatricians are key to postpartum depression screening

      Mikenna Reiser | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights

      Travis Walker, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Putting health back into insurance: the case for tobacco cessation

      Edward Anselm, MD | Policy
    • Will AI replace primary care physicians?

      P. Dileep Kumar, MD, MBA | Tech
    • Why every physician needs a sabbatical (and how to take one)

      Christie Mulholland, MD | Physician
    • Ghost networks in health care: Why physicians are suing insurers

      Timothy Lesaca, MD | Physician
    • Navigating the medical system requires specific life skills [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why patient trust in physicians is declining

      Mansi Kotwal, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Is primary care becoming a triage station?

      J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD | Physician
    • How environmental justice and health disparities connect to climate change

      Kaitlynn Esemaya, Alexis Thompson, Annique McLune, and Anamaria Ancheta | Policy
    • A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights

      Travis Walker, MD, MPH | Physician
    • The blind men and the elephant: a parable for modern pain management

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Conditions
    • Is tramadol really ineffective and risky?

      John A. Bumpus, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • Focusing on outcomes over novelty prevents AI failure in health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • What is the minority tax in medicine?

      Tharini Nagarkar and Maranda C. Ward, EdD, MPH | Education
    • Putting health back into insurance: the case for tobacco cessation

      Edward Anselm, MD | Policy
    • Why Brooklyn’s aging population needs more vascular health specialists

      Anil Hingorani, MD | Conditions
    • Escaping the golden cage of traditional medical practice to find joy again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why pediatricians are key to postpartum depression screening

      Mikenna Reiser | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

When you die: a poem
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...