In a workaday world, what a marvelous fact
What a daydreamer’s mystical feat
With nary a thought of reward in sight
I’d rather write than eat.

What drives me to this lofty height
My bathroom scales each night
Scream as they tremble beneath my feet
Then for Gawd sakes Grandson, WRITE!

CGY (1984)

This silly ditty, was originally written by my grandmother, Cecile Young, over a century ago (1923), after which she modified it to inspire me to continue my own writings at a very dark and tortured time in my life. In fact, I was able to share one of my finest poems with her shortly before her passing (1984) entitled, ‘The Night Before the Exam’, an adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s famous work ‘The Raven’. I was struggling with overwhelming sorrow and embarrassment resulting from my withdrawing from medical school during my sophomore year at Oregon Health Sciences (OHSU). In fact, my poem is a dramatic reenactment of my intense feelings of being all alone and totally distraught late at night, trying to prepare for the inevitable (Cardiovascular Pathophysiology Final) Exam the following morning, while ‘plans for sleep were mere illusion’ if I hoped to avoid ‘that dreadful sorrow of a failing score’, knowing it would doom me to ‘Repeat the Course Forevermore’. For me, it would have been impossible to adequately express my emotions at that precise moment without poetry and as a result I found the redemption that allowed me to move forward with my life.

I later renamed it ‘Poetry Reflects Life‘ in Grandmother’s honor as she taught me that poetry truly does reflect life and it often will touch one’s soul. It comes in all styles, even lyrical, as some of the best poetic verse can be found in music. As well, poetry does not have to be serious to be taken seriously, just as long as it expresses an idea or emotion that you or I can relate to.