In clinic halls where silence drapes the walls,
She wanders close, a breath both light and frail.
With child she walks, though scarce she eats at all,
And hunger’s specter shades her skin so pale.
The charts recount her weary, whispered fears,
Of weight, of size, the mirrors’ harsh replies;
Her hollow eyes reflect the haunted years
Where famine looms and reason slowly dies.
Once, madness wore a coarser robe of shame,
Labeled *hysteria*, a wandering flaw.
Yet, time and science softened cruel blame—
For now, we seek, through love, a deeper law.
Her fragile bones weave a cradle of despair,
Bare unborn life that stirs and sighs within.
Doctors urge strength, speak care, and yet the snare
Of whispered fears held tight beneath her skin.
A war unfolds unseen, her frail hands shake;
With every breath she counts, then holds, then yields.
We find her lost, as ancient knowledge breaks,
And on its dust, compassion builds new fields.
And so she stands, in stale hope, a fight
Against herself—a soul ensnared in plight.
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This piece depicts a pregnant woman’s intense psychological and physical struggle with a severe eating disorder inside a clinic setting. It contrasts her frail, starving body with the unborn life growing within her, while highlighting medicine’s historical shift away from blaming women’s conditions toward empathetic care. Ultimately, the narrative captures a quiet, unseen war of self-destruction balanced against a fragile hope for recovery.
Image credit: Fragile Light by Kathryn Decker is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Jake Taylor is a fourth-year medical student at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah pursuing a career in general surgery. His clinical and scholarly interests include rural and global surgery, trauma care, health equity, and medical education. Through poetry and medical humanities, he explores vulnerability, stigma, and the role of compassion in caring for patients experiencing serious illness.