Page 68 - Humanism 2019

Head colds I met a man once, who came to clinic for complaint of a head cold.
For how long have you had these symptoms, sir?
over bullet holes For about a week, he had said.
I asked him to remove his sweatshirt, so that I might
By Julia Ramirez, COMP student
more accurately take his blood pressure.
Background courtesy of shutterstock.com And as he complied, removing by accident his shirt along with it,
I saw
The semi-fresh, still-healing tissue
of the bullet hole in his chest.

He shrugged and laughed softly, as we crowded around
with our concern
We should take care of this, sir.
Let us clean it,
Let us help.
But he declined,
He would rather us just deal with his head cold.

I didn’t understand at the time the reason for his repudiation,
but later came to see
The contraindications that stemmed from the distrust,
And the inherent fear of persons in positions of authority.

Confronting the quietly calcified pre-conceived notions,
That stiffen thought like plaque,
impeding ability to truly see and understand:

I pondered the women requesting vitamins
instead of Ibuprofen
for their pain,
Until I saw the children that they carried on their belabored backs,
Who were too malnourished,
Too deficient,
to help alleviate their mother’s loads.

And the men who came in for treatment of spider bites;
A rare species of single-fanged arachnid, which exclusively
sought out the inner veins of forearms
And then between one’s fingers and toes,
Leaving behind necrotic,
track-mark evidence
When the more accessible spots had been over-consumed.

I befriended a man who, as reparation for his crime,
Upon deportation to Mexico, had been stripped of his nationality,
identity,
and rights.

65 HUMANISM IN THE HEALTH SCIENCES 2019 • VOL. 22