Camila Hernandez-Blanco, MS2 NYU Grossman School of Medicine
entre las paredes
escucho tu voz
dulce como de leche
llamándome, amándome
cuidandome
entre las paredes
exitís vos
el primero que me sostuvo
donde crecimos, donde vivimos
en cada rincón tu sonrisa
en cada crujido de madera tu risa
el humo del asado ya no sube
pero el olor de chorizos
en el verano permanece
el sonido de moler cafe
mi despertador siempre
aunque solo en mis sueños
entre las paredes
mi casa, sos vos
entre tus paredes
órganos colapsando
coagulación intravascular diseminada
sangrando como el lavarropas que pierde agua
coágulos paseando por tu cuerpo y
llegando a tu corazón como
los atascos por las tuberías
con destino al lavaplatos
embolización, embolizando
esparcimiento por tu cerebro
como el vidrio de tu plato
cayendo y rompiéndose en pedazos
y el brillo de tus ojos apagándose
como el corte de luz en la cocina
entre las paredes,
pedazos, pedazos
mi casa en pedazos
entre las paredes
de mi corazón
exitís vos
Camila Hernández Blanco
About the Author: I am a second year medical student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina but grew up in Wisconsin where I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison with majors in Spanish and Neurobiology. I have a passion for the medical humanities and working with Spanish-speaking populations. Outside of class, I enjoy playing field hockey, reading in parks and coffee shops, and exploring the city.
About the Work: This poem is about my dad who passed away while in the ICU due to malignant hyperthermia. This poem links my dad to my house, where I spent the past 20 years of my life with him. While his physical presence has departed, his essence remains and becomes visible in the walls, the sounds, and the memories in every corner of the house. Right after his death, strange things happened in our house. The dishwasher clogged and flooded, the coffee machine stopped working, and all the lights in the kitchen went out. These felt like manifestations of my dad’s energy. In addition, I recently learned about DIC in medical school- a condition of clots and excessive bleeding throughout the body. I found an analogy of the DIC happening within my dad's body to a DIC occurring within our house. Ultimately, this poem delves into the concept of homes—how a house embodies a home, how loved ones become our home, and how their memories permanently reside in our hearts. Essentially, this poem intertwines medical terms and explores the concept of a body as a home.
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