A good day
was one he could bring himself
to do the laundry.
Or finally send his daughter
that birthday present
he told her he’d mailed
two weeks ago.
Most days,
just maintaining a single
thought in his head
was like trying to grip
a bar of soap
that kept slipping away.
Dr. Matthew J. Farrell grew up in Sacramento and currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, a fellow doctor. He received a BA in Film & Media Studies from Stanford University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon, and an MD from Oregon Health & Science University. He is now a radiation oncology resident at UCLA, doing his best to write in his head during long commutes. His fiction, poetry, and essays have been published in both literary and academic journals, including JAMA and the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
I appreciate the deep honesty of this poem. And the simile of the bar of soap — perfection!