front cover of Not God
Not God
A Play in Verse
Marc J. Straus
Northwestern University Press, 2006
The tread of the nurses leaving the room next door tells the woman her neighbor has died. The language of the hospital is one she has unwillingly, painstakingly learned: the rhythm of machines, the counting of pills, the measuring of words, the shadowy news of an MRI. And in these harrowing, eloquent poems, she opens this world, this language of illness, to us, revealing how deeply these words and rhythms are also the measure of life. The views of her doctor are also evocatively expressed--his anger, struggles, and hopes--as he speaks of the delicate bond he forms with his ill patients. Composed by a distinguished medical oncologist whose literary work has been performed in venues throughout the country, the poems of Not God document one woman's encounter with cancer, a journey through illness whose end, while inevitable, is also unknown. Alternating with the words of her doctor, these poems form a remarkable dialogue of the flesh becoming word, and of the body inventorying--and finally transcending--its limitations.
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front cover of One Word
One Word
Marc Straus
Northwestern University Press, 1994
One Word is the first collection of poems by physician Marc J. Straus. Its unusual combination of poetic craft and medical expertise produces striking, uncommon work--work informed by a keen sense of human vulnerability. These remarkable poems fill a void in the body of imaginative work relating to illness.
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front cover of Symmetry
Symmetry
Marc Straus
Northwestern University Press, 2000
In this second book of poems, oncologist Marc J. Straus addresses the hopes and the tragedies of his profession. The work is a commentary on his experience in the medical field and a collection of rich, vivid monologues written from the points of view of both doctor and patient. These poems show a rare sensitivity not only to those who are suffering but also to the details that distinguish each life.
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