Becca Quinn is a GP in Battersea London. She enjoys using creative writing and poetry to spotlight precious moments in the life jobbing GPs before they dissolve in the maelstrom of NHS life. She is on instagram @beccajanequinn
Harnessing the power of the natural world to heal has been given many names: forest bathing, earthing, wilderness therapy. Taking time to feel the turn of the seasons and imbibe the natural beauty of our intricate ecosystems gives us permission to be small. We find restoration when we recognise that in the vastness of the natural world, our limitations as healthcare professionals matter not at all.
This poem is for the work weary.
Forest, my friend
Sometimes I take the sky between my hands
and rub the chalk of it over and over
into those parts of me that have no skin. The raw
bitten islands of other people’s problems
seep and weep out for tending,
the silt pile of tasks hard mud mask
all the small apertures
through which hope breathes. Sometimes
I see air caught between the tiny teeth of leaves.
I gather it into my lungs, silk slow
spooling the threads for tomorrow. Sometimes
I watch fat berries grow. Sour jade, scorch red
bobble head balls that roll over and over;
blister soft kisses in the sun, then
here is the sky again, smooth against my head
cheek warm like an egg
fresh laid.
Featured photo by Crispin Jones on Unsplash.
