Living in the present

Patients look to us as physicians to cure what ails. When that fails it can be difficult to admit that to the patient, and to oneself. I wrote this poem after one of my patients with end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease died after months of suffering. I suppose writing it was a way to deal with feelings of inadequacy and futility that we all face from time to time. The style was inspired by Charles Bukowski’s poem “Hell is a Lonely Place.