Haleh Van Vliet is an emergency physician.

A poem for anyone tired of productivity culture

Physician
September 13, 2026

abandoning ship

swim with the gentle undulations
of our stardusted oceans
as they sensitively surrender
drops of dew up
to the contemplative clouds
to convey ancient intricacies
in the dew’s quiet rest, buoyed patiently by petals who also must obey the call of gravity.

my dear mechanical world
(welded so clumsily by ego)
how blindly naive
your race
neglecting truths
engendered by beauty,
insisting instead that
the weight of time
is measured in capital.

you employ
productivity and efficiency
to justify life
proclaiming ignorantly
that sitting still
serves selfishness,
sloth,
and a stupored mind.

performative …

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A poem for anyone tired of productivity culture

COVID-19 is an opportunity to change the culture of death

Conditions and Diseases
April 25, 2020

The doom, gloom, and uncertainty surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic can be overwhelming, even for an emergency department physician such as myself. The heaviness of the situation largely stems from the deadly nature of the virus, our relatively minimal understanding of how it works, and our seeming inability to control the rapidly changing nature of our day-to-day lives.

TIME Ideas published an excellent piece by Drs. Jessica …

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COVID-19 is an opportunity to change the culture of death