Poetry and Medicine

Edited by Lucius Lampton, MD; JMSMA Editor

[This month, I offer a poem (actually a rare twosome) by the gifted poet and plastic surgeon William C. “Bill” Lineaweaver, MD, once of Mississippi who now teaches at Vanderbilt Medical School. Bill writes: “I wrote this poem while visiting a restored Chinese village outside Shanghai. A boat trip on the village’s canals passed old compounds once owned by merchant families. I was thinking about our developing plans to sell our old farmhouse in Mississippi, and the images and the poem’s voice almost completed themselves before I left the boat. I read a first draft of the poem to friends in Shanghai over drinks and dinner. They gave me a toast of encouragement.”

Besides the lovely poem, following it is a Chinese translation of the poem by Bill’s friend Feng Zhang. (What fun and genius!) Describing the poem and translation, Bill adds: “The style of the poem is a little bit of a parody of pseudo-translations of Chinese poetry composed by such poets as Ezra Pound. The syntax of those efforts is sometimes deliberately odd, perhaps to try to make them exotic. I wondered how my original poem would translate to Chinese, an ‘after the American’ version of the ‘after the Chinese’ poems done by English-speaking writers. A poet friend of a friend did the translation. He said it was an interesting exercise.”

The editorial assistance of Cathy Chance Harvey, PhD, of Tylertown, in the preparation of this poem and the provision of accompanying art is gratefully acknowledged. Physicians are invited to submit poems for publication in the Journal either by email at drluciuslampton@gmail.com or regular mail to the Journal, attention: Dr. Lampton.]—Ed.

The song of a leaf to a tree

My dear old house
Is the fault that you
Will outlast me mine

That I will age to ruin
Before your wood and
Stone glass and ghosts

I am so sad that
A time comes when
I cannot protect you

The sadness makes my
Love for you suddenly
Fresh sharp and sweet

Is my love ridiculous
Like a shadow loving sunlight
An echo loving song

Or is my love like
A leaf loving a tree
Through one turn of seasons

My dear old home
Be strong be lucky
For all the leaves to come

I tremble in the first
Winds of autumn.

—William C. Lineaweaver, MD

Nashville, TN



叶致树之歌

作者：William C. Lineaweaver教授

吾爱之旧宅
客匆匆而君久在
此何谬哉？

吾辈形消君长驻
木桁石窗间
或有游魂宿

吾心戚戚
念终至之期
无缘再傍依

悲怀骤袭
爱深如初见
其甘美也，如履刀尖

此爱谬乎，
如疏影逐光
回响觅踪歌已往？

吾之爱汝
如叶恋木
一体历寒暑

吾爱之旧宅
愿君坚韧，幸运常伴
如来年之树，枝茂叶繁

不觉秋风侵吾身
瑟瑟新凉一阵