A Differential Diagnosis

by John Kim

If my skin begins to harden,

eyes darken,

and all sensation from the world around me diminishes,

where is the lesion?

Consider a severe case of neuropathy

biological in nature

or

maybe I’m just tired 

(psychological in nature?)

of reading about pain as if 

it only existed 

as letters on the screen,

a passing stranger

that I didn’t know I’d meet

once again, (to my surprise)

sitting in the exam room

with trepidation in her eyes,

that the doctor might see her

and read her once again

like letters on a screen

who will always be a stranger

Yes, I think I am tired 

(it’s psychological in nature)

of holding back tears

that are fighting to breathe

the air on the other side

because it’s shameful 

to let patients know

that I am human too

whom on my worst days

am just as fragile as 

a candlestick of glass, 

proud and slender,

that sits on the edge

of a high table

where medicine has seated me

and where I find myself unable

to locate where the lesion is

from this seat of glory

that came as if it were made for

those who deem themselves holy.

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John Kim is a second-year medical student at NEOMED

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