I can’t stop thinking about The jar of Douwe Egberts in my kitchen cupboard. I can’t stop thinking about my patient’s brother. And how his eyes filled with tears as he told me about his first cup of coffee. Douwe Egberts he said (He prefers Jacobs now but that was the best cup of coffee … Continue reading Douwe Egberts
There one minute, gone the next.
Things I wonder while waiting for the nurses to bring me the death notification book
Human first
This Tom London story makes me sad on so many levels. Sad for the dying man who lost all his dignity at the hands of his supposed carers. Sad for the thousands of others who have died in a similar manner. Sad because there is truth to it. Sad because I have witnessed this kind … Continue reading Human first
Since ’91
Another year older and still the bare-foot tangled-hair tomboy of nine. Still the striving for perfection teenager. Nerdy but "in a cool way". Still the young adult who grew up a little and learned to live (cue tattoo addiction of twenty twelve). The medical student who leg go of some of that perfection; let go … Continue reading Since ’91
Women
I’ve learnt a lot of things in my thirty two years. Like how to tie my shoe laces. And where to find the best almond croissants. And how to listen to a lung and hear its pathology in one breath. But the most beautiful teachers are the remarkable women that surround me. They are fierce … Continue reading Women
Spaces
You taught me that kerning is the space between c h a r a c t e r s in a text And leading the space between lines The word interval is a direct translation from the Latin “space between the walls” Interstice is at least as obscure as lacuna but without the poetry A … Continue reading Spaces
Please visit my grave barefoot
Please visit my grave barefoot and with yesterday's leftover pizza. Cold is fine. Don't bring me roses. Jasmine will do. Dig a hole and plant an avocado tree. Use my ashes as fertilizer. Or throw them in the ocean. Let me soak up the Atlantic with my last dying embers. Don't tell them I was … Continue reading Please visit my grave barefoot
Asystole
Doctor, help! No pulse! Fifteen years. Doctor, help! . Start compressions. Check file. For max. Start compressions. . Doctor, help. No line. Check neck. No pulse. . Thirty beats. Two breaths. Thirty beats. Two breaths. . Line in. Adrenaline stat. Two breaths. Asystole. . Fifteen years. Previously well. For max. Asystole. . Thirty beats. Two … Continue reading Asystole
Dressed for Revenge
It’s raining through my walls And the world is on fire The Earth is seething And I don’t blame Her All we’ve ever done here Was for the sole benefit of humankind Pillaged, plundered and polluted We’ve decimated this planet Left Her naked and bleeding Now, for every tree we have felled She will raze … Continue reading Dressed for Revenge
Mementos
I have left pieces of myself All over this city With all sorts of people: A water bottle in the bathroom of Kirstenbosch gardens A Tupperware in the back of an Uber An earring under someone's bed. In return I have collected pieces of other people Sometimes intentionally, a trade of sorts And sometimes not … Continue reading Mementos
I will run
The clouds glow orange and pinkAnd a colour I’m sure has no nameThe world is wakingThe sun is laying out her waresI can hear someone sweeping their stepsThe lady across the road(who always smiles at me)Is opening her shuttersA few blocks down I can already make out the garbage vanRumbling through the streets of WoodstockDisposing … Continue reading I will run
Quote Unquote
Every morning I wake up before the sun, because cats. And because I like the world better before it rises. Every morning I sit quietly and sip my coffee before I do anything else, because caffeine. And because if I am quiet enough I can hear the call to prayer. Every morning I let that … Continue reading Quote Unquote
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