the
child
is curious
in a joyful way
and can understand
the roundness of the world
and that anything divided by zero is infinity

at some point the child’s gaze turns earthward, then
grades, awards, and accolades come in quanta
there will be more schooling, and
a student emerges

the student learns, expresses, yearns, dreams
and catches a glimpse of a destination
and there will be no turning back
medical school happens, and
an explorer emerges

then running, leaping, feeling the rush of new air,
the exhilaration of wonder, the anticipation
of plunging into the water rapidly rising
a baptism requiring boundaries
and a deference to practicality
residency is completed, and
a physician emerges

into a system seeking to program, package, and automate
in the name of value and quality, yet
it is what the system does
and there is no blame

the creative mind wilts under the weight of endless regulations
the compassionate soul suffocates in the coils of informatics
the joyful heart fatigues fighting resistance to caring
and the physician is tagged, branded, and blended
into the health care provider herd, and
a demoralized physician emerges

but there endures a calling for
practical dreamers who can
remain child, student
explorer, and
physician

be
this
physician
and emerge again

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