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Heresies to live by

Poems, 2022, 108 pages

Illustrated by artists from the Art Enables gallery and vocational arts program in Washington DC

$18

Order: Amazon.com, Quill & Brush, Art Enables or Direct

Although my earlier writing was primarily inspired by my work in health care, the 63 poems in this collection have a wider focus. Those in the first section, Letters from My Grandmother, were written as I came to understand how profoundly one person can shape the course of a child’s life. The second section includes poems inspired by a range of experiences that I think of as a kind of Life Review. The third section, Heresies to Live By, contains poems probing the questions about health, medical care, end of life and the spiritual quest that has engaged me more and more intensely in recent years.

Clinician’s Guide to the Soul

Poems, 2008, 96 pages

American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year

$18

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“I imagined poetry might, if given the chance, even heal medicine itself.”
—Rafael Campo, The Healing Art

This small pocket-size book contains 45 of my poems and 10 prints by Rachel Dickerson, a young artist whose work inspires me in the same way a poem can.

The title feels risky—clinician and soul and the promise of guidance! But the poems are hard won and long pondered. They come out of my personal and professional experience in health care as well as my exploration of healing art. I’d like to think you might turn to them for insight, diversion, sustenance or healing as you wrestle with the challenges of clinical practice, illness, death and life.

Clinician’s Guide to the Soul was written for health workers, family caregivers, patients and all who turn to poetry to plumb the depths of our common humanity.

Rehab at the Florida Avenue Grill

Poems, 1999, 104 pages

$13

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Embedded in these poems are stories from my work as a nurse. They often began as conversations with colleagues or journal entries written in celebration, sorrow, or frustration at the end of a day. Some were first published in the annual reports of the small clinic where I worked, then made their way into the literature of my profession. Others appeared in literary magazines. I have served them up as soul food for caregivers and as tribute to the many patients whose lives changed mine.

I’m pleased that the Maine Humanities Council has selected Rehab as one of the Favorite Readings for its seminal program, Literature & Medicine: Humanities at the Heart of Health Care.

Ninth Street Notebook—Voice of a Nurse in the City

Short pieces on nursing and health care from an inner-city clinic, 2001, 208 pages

American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year

$18

Out of print. Order used: Amazon.com
Download free: Low res (3 MB) | High res (12MB)

What did I learn about health care in the United States by serving as nurse and director of a small clinic in a rough and tumble neighborhood in Washington D.C. for most of two decades? Plenty, as it turns out. Most of these short, first person essays addressing issues from clinical practice to health care financing were first published in nursing journals. I have organized them along with some illuminating “etceteras” (poems, photographs, writings by my colleagues) into what I hope is a cohesive and meaningful whole.

You may now download Ninth Street Notebook—Voice of a Nurse in the City in its entirety as a PDF to read online or print at no cost. (See links above.)