The Death Examiner’s Creed

By: Henry Slone, MD

Polluted by death,

I wait in the shadow

of the hand of a god that takes–

and I am a messenger

of that hand.

I deliver it with growing certainty,

confirming the nature of taking

with simple intimacy.

I watch the chest,

listen for the heart;

I open eyes,

and I close them.

My touch separates before

from hereafter,

but I am only a messenger.

I swallow my bitterness,

weighed down by the message

wondering if it gets easier– but

perhaps it should never be easy.

We are never prepared

to declare our loved ones dead,

to define the moment our grief begins.

So my work becomes necessary,

but regrettable,

and I wrestle with it.

May we all be granted the grace

for someone else to tell us

who among our beloveds has died,

and when.

Henry Slone is a second-year internal medicine resident at OHSU. He loves in no particular order: reading, running, and movies. He hopes to one day be an academic physician and is undecided on specialty (although he has, at times, described himself as “Cards curious”). Henry plans to continue writing regardless of his future specialty/career and hopes some pieces of his reflections can add something to the lives of others given life is about sharing things with others.