Medicine And Poetry: Is He A Man Or A Robot? Poem by Dr John Celes

Medicine And Poetry: Is He A Man Or A Robot?



I knew a man of eighty years,
Whose many organs were removed,
Replaced by metal parts and gears –
Bio-prostheses, he looked shrewd:
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

A baboon’s heart was placed in him
For end-stage cardio-myopathy,
A pace-maker was fitted trim,
As heart didn’t work quite properly:
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

He drank all wines since his childhood,
And always lived in high spirits,
He had a piggy liver good,
For his hepatic cirrhosis!
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

He had transplanted both kidneys,
One each from brother’s wife and niece,
Appendix, gall bladder were gone
As prophylaxis for new stone!
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

He smoked all life like burning tyre;
With end-stage lungs, he did retire;
Got one out, transplanted other,
But continued to smoke cigar!
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

His right eye-lense cataracted,
An I.O.L. was implanted,
For Retinoblastoma left,
A beautiful glass eye was kept:
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

His scalp-hair was all fully gone,
A wig he sutured on skull-bone;
For hip-joints creaking with much pain,
He had metal joints fixed again:
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a man or a robot?

He’d many more operations,
And below-knee amputations,
Clankety-click, clickety-clank,
Wrrr-wrrr noise came whenev’r he sank,
Repeating when he slowly walked,
In speech monotonous, he talked:
So, I began to wonder much,
Is he a robot now or man?

Copyright by Dr John Celes 27-01-2013

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
A lot of material and experience in the field of Medicine has potential for being written or expressed as poetry.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Veeraiyah Subbulakshmi 03 April 2013

the patient is worth researched. he might not have diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol issue until late in his life..Is he a man or a robot? That is the reason we have to keep our water and sewer system in good condition, but in India we have failed to do it!

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Dr John Celes

Dr John Celes

Tamilnadu, India
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