Poems of Sickness, Illness, and Recovery
Poems that confront the mystery of ailing health, diseases, treatments, healing, and dying.
We feel that something isn't right. We make an appointment and visit a doctor. We agree to have tests. We worry. We get the results, we hear the diagnosis. We worry. We go through treatment. We struggle to find the courage, the strength. We lean on our loved ones. These poems explore the many stages, and emotions, of illness, in some of our toughest times, when we and our loved ones are most vulnerable.
- James Langlas
From the magazine:
Sickness
- Jane Huffman
From the magazine:
The Rest
- Billy Collins
From the magazine:
Sick Room
- George Bowering
From the magazine:
Sense of Time
A Poem about Pain
David Budbill
- Sandra Simonds
From the magazine:
“It’s going to hurt”
- Meena Alexander
From the magazine:
Diagnosis
After His Diagnosis
Margaret Hasse
After the Diagnosis
Christian Wiman
- Lieke Marsman
From the magazine:
The Following Scan Will Last Four Minutes
- Laurie Clements Lambeth
From the magazine:
Cusped Prognosis
The Moon and the Yew Tree
Tory Dent
Children's Hospital
Katie Ford
The Hospital Window
James L. Dickey
- Paisley Rekdal
From the magazine:
The Wolves
- Martín Espada
From the magazine:
Aubade with Concussion
- Leanne O'Sullivan
From the magazine:
Three Poems for My Husband
Type 2
Sjohnna McCray
- Robert Pinsky
From the magazine:
In the Coma
In the Hospital
Chen Chen
Mother's Day
Dorianne Laux
- Joy Ladin
From the magazine:
Forgetting
- Max Ritvo
From the magazine:
Your Voice in the Chemo Room
from Solar Maximum ["How much chemical disorder..."]
Sueyeun Juliette Lee
- Elaine Equi
From the magazine:
Earth, You Have Returned to Me
Imagine
Jennifer Richter
All Kinds of Fires Inside Our Heads
Nikki Wallschlaeger
- Meena Alexander
From the magazine:
Revenant
us
Tory Dent
Hospital Parking Lot
Terri Kirby Erickson
Hospital
Marianne Boruch
- Robert Adamson
From the magazine:
Winter, Hospital Bed
- Karen An-hwei Lee
From the magazine:
Prayer of Radiolucence
- Michael Earl Craig
From the magazine:
Night Nurse
The Lilies
Karenne Wood
Sandra: At the Beaver Trap
Michael S. Harper
- Jane Kenyon
From the magazine:
After an Illness, Walking the Dog
The Pain Reliever
Carrie Olivia Adams
It Couldn’t Be Done
Edgar Albert Guest
On Quitting
Edgar Albert Guest
Burning
Galway Kinnell
- Meena Alexander
From the magazine:
Revenant
- Dean Young
From the magazine:
Emerald Spider Between Rose Thorns
- Melvin Dixon
From the magazine:
Heartbeats
Lines to Accompany Flowers for Eve
Carolyn Kizer
Night's Thousand Shadows
Christian Wiman
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Dylan Thomas
- Laura Kasischke
From the magazine:
Hospital parking lot, April
The Hospital Window
James L. Dickey
The Year of What Now
Brian Russell