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The exact origins of Memorial Day are not exactly agreed upon. Many cities claim to be the founders of this holiday. The tradition, however, dates back to Civil War times. At one time Memorial day was known as Decoration Day, as it was the day families and friends of fallen Civil War soldiers would choose place flowers and "decorate" the graves.

The first official Memorial Day was May 30th 1868, after the day was declared by General John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (a veterans' organization). The holiday was adopted by Michigan and New York and then by all the Northern states through the late 1800's. The Southern states had there own days they observed and did not recognize this holiday until after WWI (several Southern states still have a separate Memorial Day type holiday to honor confederate soldiers). Apparently the date, May 30th was chosen as it was not the anniversary of any battle.

At first the holiday was just to honor the Civil War dead. After WWI, Memorial Day changed to honoring all of Americans who died fighting in any war. Now it is often seen as a day to remember all who have died. (I remember going to the cemetery to decorate the graves of family members on Memorial Day when I was young.) In 1967, the name of the holiday was officially changed to "Memorial Day" and in 1971 the National Holiday Act changed the date of the holiday to the last Monday in May, creating a very convenient 3-day weekend. There has been for several years a push to move Memorial Day back to May 30th in order to try to give some meaning back to the day (so it's not just the long weekend when the pools open).

The top photo is from Arlington National Cemetery. Every year around Memorial Day, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment or The Old Guard, in a tradition called "Flags In", places small flags in front of all graves in the cemetery.

The Fredericksburg National Cemetary hosts an annual Luminaria each year for Memorial Day. Approximately 15,300 candles are placed by volunteers on each of the graves (80% of which are unknown soldiers).

I have often wondered about the significance of the red flowers being given out for donations around this time every year. Inspired by the poem, "In Flanders Fields" (poem below) by Canadian WWI veteran and poet John McCrae, the Veterans of Foreign Wars take donations for their "Buddy" Poppy every year around Memorial Day. Theses poppies are assembled by disabled and needy veterans. Since 1922 this program has been raising money for veterans and their families through the poppies.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below...

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields...

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands, we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields...

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For clinicians looking for medical songs to pull out for discussion, you may want to add this song by French actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. The song, IRM is from her new album of the same name. IRM, the album, was released Jan. 26, 2010 on the Elekra/Asylum label. Co-written, mixed and produced by Beck, the album is described by Michael Katzif from NPR as having "lyrical subtlety and layered details that unspool upon each listen"

The title song, IRM, is the french name for MRI, as in Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The background story is that in 2007 Charlotte had a skiing accident in the states. After the minor accident she began having headaches, and subsequent serial MRI's were preformed. Ultimately she required surgical decompression from a hematoma.

She says that during the MRI procedures, she'd listen to the whirring of the machine thinking what great background it would make for a song. While many of us may hear sounds in our daily lives that we randomly think could fit into a song- she did it. But it's not just background, the lyrics themselves are about the procedure as well. Below are the lyrics and then song:

Take a picture, what's inside?
Ghost image in my mind
Neural pattern like a spider
Capillary to the centre

Hold still and press the button
Looking through a glass onion
Following the x-ray eye
From the cortex to medulla

Analyze EKG
Can you see a memory?
Register all my fear
On a flowchart disappear

Leave my head demagnetized
Tell me where the trauma lies
In the scan of pathogen
Or the shadow of my sin.

Anyone who's had an MRI, or been around them won't have trouble hearing the machine sound. I even think the drum beat has the sound of a tachycardic pulse. The lyrics help contrast so well the impersonal world of medicine with the idea of being human, i.e. "can you see a memory?"

Here's the song from YouTube below.

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Happy 2nd Anniversary!


Another year has come and gone, and we here at Pallimed Arts like to celebrate with top 10 lists. We did the top 10 palliative care films in 2008, and the top 10 palliative care songs in 2009. Although we are growing up- this is our 2nd anniversary- we thought we'd get "younger" with this years top 10. We're listing our favorite children's films that have good palliative care themes.



Plot summaries are courtesy of IMDB and the links will take you to a trailer of the films. As before we hope you comment with your own ideas of children's films we left off our list.



10. The Never Ending Story (A troubled boy dives into a wonderous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book)



9. My Neighbor Totoro (When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wonderous forest spirits who live nearby)



8. Bridge to Terabithia (A preteen's life is changed after befriending the new girl at school)



7. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Molly Mahoney is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. But when Mr. Magorium, the 243 year-old eccentric who owns the store, bequeaths the store to her, a dark and ominous change begins to take over the once remarkable Emporium)



6. Up (By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip)



5. Lion King (Tricked into thinking he killed his father, a guilt ridden lion cub flees into exile and abandons his identity as the future King)



4. My Girl (Vada Sultenfuss is obsessed with death. Her mother is dead, and her father runs a funeral parlor. She is also in love with her English teacher)



3. Bambi (Animated film about a young deer, Bambi, growing up in the wild after his mother is shot by hunters)



2. Old Yeller (A boy brings a yellow dog home. The dog loves the family as much as they love him, but can the love last?) *no trailer found, link is to a scene from the movie.



1. Charlotte's Web (Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen)

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(NOTE ** Links to The Awakenings Project disabled secondary to possible malware on that site.  Pallimed Arts is clear of malware.** UPDATE Aug 22 2010 - links clear of malware)

Mostly, in my practice, mental illness is a sort of co-morbid condition to the reason I'm following. Some recent experiences have me thinking about the chronic, debilitating (and even, in a few cases, potentially fatal) nature of mental illness.

The Awakenings Project  is an initiative started with the mission to assist artists with mental illness with their art and to help them use art as a creative outlet. The project deals not only with art, but also with music, literature, and drama. Here I'm focusing more on the art.

The painting to the left is entitled "On the Threshold of a Dream" by Awakenings Project artist Kurt Taecker. Taecker had been living with mental illness since age 17 and died January 2010. His art "reflected the twists and turns in his mind". He once said the process of creating his art gave him "is a sense of healing, a momentary lessening of anguish."

The sculpture to the right, entitled "Peter's Brain" by Peter Austin is a tangled mess of roots. To the left is "Peter 12X24". Both images are self portraits. How the artist sees himself, his brain. His brain is almost spider-like, twisted. The faces are misshapen, each different from the rest.

The last painting is entitled "Smoothing the Shroud" by Trish Evers. She was a co-founder of the Awakenings Project and died from uterine sarcoma in 2000. Hands smooth out the somewhat blurred image of a face. All the different colored hands seem to be lending support and everything in the painting radiates from the face. What jumps out at me the most are the eyes. While almost every other feature is touched by the hands or the other rays of color coming from the face, the eyes seemed untouched.

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Cordula Volkening was born in Germany, and attended the School of Art and Design in Kiel, Germany. She immigrated to New York in 1985, but it wasn't until she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer that art changed from a passion to a career.

Prior to her diagnosis in the summer of 2007, she worked mainly in interior construction design and renovations and raised her two children. Once diagnosed and given a one year prognosis, she literally began sketching right in the hospital and then when discharged went to work painting- creating 30 new works in the first three months after her diagnosis.

She wrote on her Myspace page in Nov. 2007, "I paint in between my radiation, chemotherapy and my daily session of are you kidding me... "

She did multiple art shows, often with fatalistic titles such as "Would You Like an Invitation to My Destination?" and "Transition: May We Go to the Places that Scare Us"

In January of 2009 the disease had progressed, and when given the option to prolong life with more chemo, yet render her too weak to paint, the decision was clear; no more treatments. A true palliative decision, since she valued making art over quantity of days.

A quote from a New York Times article by Corey Killgannon profiling her in Feb. 2009 states, "She said the terminal illness has simplified things, washing away the worry and petty preoccupations that almost made life harder when she had plenty of it. And she has never felt more connected to the canvas and to her creativity."

Other quotes from the article:

"she calls every painting a "gift" from the cancer"

"her painting style is shaped by one thing, 'I have nothing to lose'"

Cordula died April 22nd, 2009.

To see more of her paintings visit a slide show "A Passion for Art, Through Cancer", or Cordula's MySpace page. Also, interviews with her on Youtube. This first set done earlier in her disease is quite a contrast to the NY Times video done a few months before her death.

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No, not the game show or video game. When I first saw the name of this HBO film, You Don't Know Jack, I thought the title seemed a bit casual for a movie about Jack Kevorkian and assisted suicide. The word flippant came to mind. What I realized as I starting watching the film was that I really don't know Jack. So, maybe an appropriate title (and probably intentionally flippant). I have heard about his work, his court case but I never really knew anything about the man. This film focuses on the years Kevorkian spent as "Dr. Death" but also gives a lot of personal insight into his life, relationships, personality. It shows him as an eccentric man who knowingly gave up his freedom for his cause.

Below is the trailer for this film which just premiered on HBO this past weekend.

Regardless of how you may feel about the topic, you can not (if this film is an accurate portrayal) argue the passion he feels for his cause. He so believed in this cause that he put his own freedom on the line with every death. The last death was not actually an assisted suicide but euthanasia. He went into this knowing it would force a court case.

He pleads a sympathetic case for his cause. The terms he uses are ones that we would be familiar with: death with dignity, quality of life, end suffering. He speaks about why must someone make the decision to have their feeding tube removed and die slowly when we could just end things quickly, humanely. Who are we as doctors to make someone go through that when we have the ability to spare them?

One statement I found interesting: "terminally ill is not a definable term". I would love to hear what everyone thinks of that.

I wondered when I started watching the film how the story would be slanted. It was clearly pro Dr. Kevorkian. I was left wishing for more balanced view of the issues. I felt those against what he had done were vilified and painted as overly religious. (I know very nonreligious people who are against assisted suicide.) I have always seen this as a very complex issue. To just get one side does not do it justice. I was left feeling a bit like the media was trying to manipulate my views rather than just trying to entertain me or even educate me. I would like to see a palliative care perspective. Is death all we have to offer?

From a film perspective, this is very well acted, starring Al Pacino (a remarkable resemblance to Dr. Kevorkian), John Goodman, Susan Sarandon. Intermixed with the main storyline are interesting personal relationships between Jack and his best friends, sister and lawyer. He struggles with the issues that brought him to embrace assisted suicide in the first place, the suffering and death of his mother.

One line in the movie describes Dr. Kevorkian as "the last doctor you'll ever need". My thought was, does that describe me too?

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Today's post is a potpourri of sorts. We talk much on this blog about how grief serves as an impetus for art. We've reviewed poems, visual art, music and films that trace back to an individuals personal story. Today I am going to interview Susan W. Reynolds, someone acquainted with grief personally, and then take a look at both a piece of artwork and poem she's done. She's involved in a new concept for me, something called "Redesign". It's yet another tool to use in palliative care. In typical interview fashion you'll see the question followed by her response.

AC: Tell me about a bit about your story and your loss?

SR: My husband died at 59, due to lymphoma, five years ago. He died at our lake home, by the water and without our children present, just as he had requested. Hospice was not involved in his care, although a close family friend was an excellent hospice nurse.

I had been a physical therapist in the early years of marriage and loved patient education and working with the team approach in stroke rehab. Most of my married life I was a stay at home mom, having moved our family ten times due to his job changes. Three months before my husband died, both our daughters graduated from college and moved away from home. At 49 I was a widow and now truly an empty nester.

By chance I saw an article about interior redesign and staging and then enrolled in the program to become certified in both. I began doing one day room makeovers for clients, color consulting, transitioning some clients to smaller homes. As I reviewed my clients, I found that the majority of them had recently experienced a large loss, mostly from the death of a spouse or child and some from divorce.

AC: Wow, that's an interesting insight about your clients. What IS redesign exactly?

SR: Redesign simply uses art, furnishings and accessories that one already owns and loves and recombines the elements into a soothing, functional and supporting space. Sometimes items are moved from room to room. Other times items may be taken away. The person utilizing the space is interviewed as to what they love about the space, how they use the space and how the space makes them feel. In working with clients on the grief journey, decisions are make together (myself and the griever) which is different from a typical redesign when the client is off premises and I do the work alone. Allowing the client to acknowledge and support his or her needs without feeling they are dishonoring the memory of their loved one is one of the core of redesign directions, but even greater than that is to revive yourself (the bereaved) and place yourself in surrounding that support you, whether it be the bedroom, your office, your car or the first visit to a restaurant since your loss.

AC: You have a blog as well, RevivalRedesign, that I understand was encouraged by a discussion with a bereavement group as a way to put these ideas down and in a sense move forward. Are their other expressive things you've done on your grief journey?

SR: My first outward expression of grief started with my trying a dance form in which I did not need a partner. The dancing introduced me to a new music genre to listen to and helped me express both wanted and unwanted emotions. I also carved some walking sticks and started painting. I had not painted since high school and had never carved. Working with my hands, freed my mind for short periods of time. This past year, I finally hung two of my paintings, they moved from sitting in a closet to the walls of my home. I also began to write. I still do not enjoy writing, but it consumes me, and expectantly allows inner thoughts and desires to seep forth and hence my blog and now a book is on the way.

AC: This artwork piece to the right you did is an encaustic piece. Can you explain the process

SR: Encaustic art is a very old art form using hot beeswax and plant extracts to color it. Beeswax is still used but other pigments are added for color in its present application. The hot wax is painted onto a surface and the layers fused together with a blowtorch. Colors can meld together with the heat or you can use parceled segments painted and lightly torched to adhere them to the surface. The layers can be scraped away with tools to reveal layers below and/or highly polished.

AC: It would seem the process itself is like grief?

SR: Encaustic painting is a bit like life, layering experiences one upon another. In grief, the layers are all there and we are presented with a chance to reassess and decide which layers to expose or rediscover of ourselves. We may decide which ones to let go as well. My artwork here represents growth toward the surface from the bottom of a darker and murkier sea. Rising to the light also required me scraping some of the layers away and deciding what to keep so as to make my painting visually pleasing for me.

AC: You also use poetry as a form of expression. This piece entitled "On the Bolt, Fabric of Life" found on your blog, is at first glance about sewing and fabric. What did the poem symbolize for you?

SR: The salvage of the fabric is often overlooked and not deemed useful in sewing. In grief we salvage what we have learned from the past. We can stitch it down and cover it up without creativity or growth or in salvaging our lives we can accept our own frailty and weave new experiences into the old patterns. Another piece of beauty arises, incorporating both the old and the new.

AC: Finally, as someone on the grief journey, what comment/advice would you share?

SR: My trials and errors speak for themselves. Don't take yourself too seriously. I had no idea that writing would prove to be my greatest "healing" tool. Try something new. It may lead to an unexpected delight or to another door that opens. Do not limit yourself from the baseline of your past. Find what lifts your spirit now and know that this too can change. Allow room for change and some fun doing it!

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If you attended our talk at the Academy meeting, you will recognize this song. I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital) by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band was released in 2008 on his album Conor Oberst. I think it's a fun listen in general and especially for anyone in the hospice and palliative care field. I thought it deserved its own post. Enjoy!



The first thing that strikes me about this song is the upbeat music for such a serious topic. It's not the tone you would expect for talking about how one would like to die. With the same lyrics but different music, it could be a very different song. In an interview with Oberst, he talks about what he was thinking when he wrote this song.

"I think it has a sort of comedic aspect to it. The juxtaposition of the music and what's being sung about I suppose. ... I just think of sort of a stubborn old cowboy man that just wants to go lay in the grass and, you know, die out by the tree or something. "

The comical lyrics make me realize how I take the hospital experience for granted. Horrible gowns, bad TV, small sterile rooms, unable to do the things you enjoy most. Put that way, probably not the setting I would choose to spend my last days in. To some, this would be like a prison.

As the song gets closer to the end, the singer begins to sound more desperate. At one point he changes "I don't want to die in the hospital" to "I don't want to die". His voice sounds a bit crazed at times. Is there some terminal delirium there at the end?

I was just listening to this song again as I write this post and I had a moment. I was remembering several experiences of confused patients in the hospital who just kept getting up trying to leave. (I have even had an experience where the patient was wanting to find his shoes so he could take off.) They just keep say "Help me get up. I've gotta go" over and over. Couldn't say where they wanted to go but just wanted to get out of the hospital. The repetitive lyrics of the song remind me of that. Maybe I should have listened more closely to what they were telling me.

Below are the lyrics to I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital).

I don’t wanna die in the hospital
No I don’t wanna die in the hospital
No I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

I don’t wanna hear all those factory sounds
Looking like the girl in the sleeping gown
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Can you make a sound to distract the nurse
Before I take a ride in that long black hearse
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

I gotta go, go, go
Cause I don’t have long

Yeah I don’t give a damn what those doctors say
I don’t wanna spend another lonesome day
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

They don’t let you smoke and you can’t get drunk
All there is to watch are these soap operas
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Can you get this tube out of my arm
Morphine in my blood like a slow sad song
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots on
Help me get my boots back on

I gotta go go go
Cos I don’t have long

Is there still a world at my windowsill
All there ever was I remember still
I don’t wanna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Don’t know when it’s day or when its night
All I ever see are florescent lights
I’m not gonna die in this hospital
You gotta take me back outside

They give me all these flowers & big balloons
But I’m not gonna stay in this little room
I’m not gonna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

Are the stars still in the sky
Is that fat moon on the rise
Feel the earth against my feet
As the cold wind calls for me

I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
No I ain’t gonna die in the hospital
You gotta take me back outside

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March 31st marks the 5 year anniversary of the death of Terri Schiavo. The case that got so many families talking about their end of life preferences comes back into the media now in an unexpected way.

To commemorate the anniversary, Family Guy, a Fox Network animated series, aired a short spoof on the case, Terri Schiavo: The Musical. Below is the episode. (It's just the first minute or so of the episode.)



Tasteless? Insensitive to all parties concerned? Disrespectful of the deceased? You can be the judge. I guess we all have different senses of humor. Not quite historically accurate. (I pointed out to my husband how it was medically incorrect. His response was "Amber, I think they were going more for rhyming than medical accuracy.") But is it too soon? Will it always be?

Having watched Family Guy before, I think that it is clearly meant to shock. To make us say out loud "They did not just do that?". As I am sure there will be some upcoming media about this anniversary, Family Guy probably sees that all press is good press. And they have gotten press over this. Schiavo's family was understandably enraged by the episode and many different family members have been quoted stating as much, calling for Fox to drop the series.

Family Guy isn't the only animated series to take on this topic. March 30, 2005, just 12 hours before Schiavo's death, South Park aired the episode "Best Friends Forever" (This is the link is to the episode. It may be offensive to some viewers as South Park always is.), also a spoof of the controversial case. They actually won an Emmy for this episode. There is some interesting commentary on the state of modern medicine. Even if South Park isn't your taste, I recommend watching it. It actually seems to be more making a point than trying to shock the audience.

So am I offended? Not really. I likely would be if it was my family member they were talking about. It honestly makes my inner palliative care doctor cringe a bit to think of the family having to see this, regardless of what my views may be. But I have seen much more offensive material come out of both of these series. They have poked fun at about every controversial issue out there and will continue to do so. No one would even bother if these issues didn't not raise so much emotion already. Maybe it should be an honor to get this kind of attention. It means enough people care.

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If you ever write a 9 minute song you would hope it would be a good one. There are only a few 9 minute plus songs in my song collection but "The Trapeze Swinger" by Iron and Wine is one that stands out. If you have any familiarity with it you may remember it from the end credit sequence in the moderately memorable movie "In Good Company."

Hypnotically repetitive, I would occasionally put this song on repeat to fall asleep to when I lived alone during my palliative medicine fellowship (and my wife had to be in another city for her fellowship.) At first I took the 'please, remember me' line to be more about my long-distance relationship with my wife, but as I continued to listen to it falling asleep after long days of being surrounded by dying people at the hospice house the meaning clearly evolved.

Since the song is so long go ahead and start listening to it as you read the rest of this post.


Iron and Wine is really a one man band led by Samuel Bean. The simple strong structure repeats through the song with little accents placed on each verse by different instruments or Bean's voice. The back and forth nature of the song structure reminds me of being at the beach watching the waves come crashing in and then slowly recede.

The intro begins with soft wind chimes and what sounds like sea shells or a rain stick followed by the basic guitar melody and a chorus of 'oohhh-ohhhhhs.' As the song advances we hear a ton of different instruments: slide guitar, bass guitar, wood blocks, tom toms, percussive metal, an organ played in reverse, tympani drums, upright bass (around 4:53 - my favorite part!), a song played in reverse, piano, and finally a toy whistle. All of these instruments begin to layer into an increasingly complex sound. I can't imagine being the sound mixer on this song!

The lyrics obviously focus on a theme of rememberence and like the instrumentation the repetitive nature allows for different takes on the same theme. here are the first lines of all the verses laid together.

Please, remember me happily
But please, remember me fondly
And please, remember me that Halloween
So please, remember me mistakenly
And please, remember me as in the dream
But please, remember me, my misery
And please, remember me seldomly
So please, remember me finally

The perspective of the dying person wanting to instruct those still alive on how to keep the memory (and the legacy) alive is commonly seen in hospice and palliative care. How we as friends, family or staff enhance or suppress this legacy building is not often talked about as openly as this song manages. How would caring for a person who is dying be different if we spent some time with them asking how they would like to be remembered?

There are many religious references in the song, but each of them comes with a little bit of the singer's reality. Imagining the heaven with obscene graffiti, or rushed angels who want to get all the new souls through the door place an potentially unknowable realm in earthly terms.

Overall, Bean gives us a bit of poetry mixed with american folk and indie pop that allows you to discover a little something new with each listen. Please share any lines in this song stand out the most to you.

Lyrics by Iron and Wine (aka Samuel Bean) 2004

Please, remember me happily
By the rosebush laughing
With bruises on my chin, the time when
We counted every black car passing
Your house beneath the hill
And up until someone caught us in the kitchen
With maps, a mountain range, a piggy bank
A vision too removed to mention

But please, remember me fondly
I heard from someone you're still pretty
And then they went on to say
That the pearly gates
Had some eloquent graffiti
Like "We'll meet again" and "Fuck the man"
And "Tell my mother not to worry"
And angels with their great handshakes
Were always done in such a hurry

And please, remember me that Halloween
Making fools of all the neighbors
Our faces painted white
By midnight, we'd forgotten one another
And when the morning came I was ashamed
Only now it seems so silly
That season left the world and then returned
And now you're lit up by the city

So please, remember me mistakenly
In the window of the tallest tower
Calling passers-by but much too high
To see the empty road at happy hour
Gleam and resonate, just like the gates
Around the holy kingdom
With words like "Lost and found" and "Don't look down"
And "Someone save temptation"

And please, remember me as in the dream
We had as rug-burned babies
Among the fallen trees and fast asleep
Aside the lions and the ladies
That called you what you like and even might
Give a gift for your behavior
A fleeting chance to see a trapeze
Swinger high as any savior

But please, remember me, my misery
And how it lost me all I wanted
Those dogs that love the rain and chasing trains
The colored birds above their running
In circles around the well and where it spells
On the wall behind St. Peter
So bright, on cinder gray, in spray paint
"Who the hell can see forever?"

And please, remember me seldomly
In the car behind the carnival
My hand between your knees, you turned from me
And said, "The trapeze act was wonderful
But never meant to last", the clown that passed
Saw me just come up with anger
When it filled with circus dogs, the parking lot
Had an element of danger

So please, remember me finally
And all my uphill clawing
My dear, but if I make the pearly gates
I'll do my best to make a drawing
Of God and Lucifer, a boy and girl
An angel kissing on a sinner
A monkey and a man, a marching band
All around a frightened trapeze swinger

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In putting together our talk for the academy meeting (music with palliative themes for self care) we had a lot of material to work with. We couldn't possibly talk about all of the music we know to have these themes. There were a lot of... I won't say rejects, as they are still great songs. We'll call them honorable mentions. I want to give an honorable mention today to the Canadian folk rock indie band The Weakerthans and their album Reconstruction Site.

This 2003 album is structured around three songs, which are conveniently placed within parentheses so you know which ones they are, (Manifest), (Hospital Vespers), (Past Due). All three songs are written in more of a sonnet form then a typical song. To me they seem more like poetry than songs. The lyrics are even written out on their website in a paragraph form, not the typical form used for song lyrics.

The first of the three songs, (Manifest), starts out as some type of call to action. Maybe its the beginning of a life philosophy. Like wanting to see and notice everything. Take nothing for granted. The song is very upbeat, optimistic about life. It has an almost military type beat that makes it seem even more like a call to arms. Here is a link to the album and the lyrics are below.

I want to call requests through heating-vents, and hear them answered with a whisper, "No." To crack the code of muscle, slacken, tense. Let every second step in boots on snow complete your name with accents I can't place, that stumble where the syllables combine. Take depositions from a stranger's face. Paint every insignificance a sign. So tell me nothing matters, less or more. Say, "Whatever we think actions are, we'll never know what anything was for." If "Near is just as far away as far," and I'm permitted one act I can save, I choose to sit here next to you and wave.

The middle song, (Hospital Vespers) is below.

Doctors played your dosage like a card-trick. Scrabbled down the hallways yelling "Yahtzee!" I brought books on Hopper, and the Arctic, something called "The Politics of Lonely," a toothbrush and a quick-pick with the plus. You tried not to roll your sunken eyes, and said "Hey can you help me, I can't reach it." Pointed at the camera in the ceiling. I climbed up, blocked it so they couldn't see. Turned to find you out of bed, and kneeling. Before the nurses came, took you away, I stood there on a chair and watched you pray.

Now, I won't tell you I completely understand every line. (Per internet lore, "The Politics of Lonely" may be an obscure reference to a chapter title of a book about an explorer. Who could know?) But a song is what the listener gets out of it. To me this speaks to a feeling of disconnect with the medical community. A lot of references to games "card-trick", "scrabbled", "Yahtzee" like the singer feels it's all one big experiment, like a game. I think the overall sentiment is that the hospital is dehumanizing. The patient feels the need to hide away themselves, emotions, spirituality from the hospital community (with the camera as the symbol for that community). Open to interpretation. The music becomes very strange, I thought a bit eerie.

The last song of the album, (Past Due), is much more obvious. The music lightens up. You hear tinkling bells. It sounds like a conclusion. I'll leave the interpretation to you.

February always finds you folding local papers open to the faces "passed away," to wonder what they're holding in those hands we're never shown. The places formal photographs refuse to mention. His tiny feet, that birthmark on her knee. The tyranny of framing our attention with all the eyes their eyes no longer see. And darkness comes too early, you won't find the many things you owe these latest dead: a borrowed book, that cheque you didn't sign. The tools to be believed with, beloved. Give what you can: to keep, to comfort this plain fear you can't extinguish or dismiss.

The album seems to be telling a story with these three songs as the plot: hope, loss, grief, then resolution. Rebuilding life after a loss. Reconstruction, if you will.

Some of the criticism this album got is that it may be a bit too literate. These songs aren't really meant to be sung in the shower. They are meant to be over thought, which is not always what I'm in the mood to do when listening to music. But when I looked at it more like poetry set to music, I think I appreciated it more. In these songs, nothing is accidental. Every word, every note is well thought through and gives meaning. That meaning may at times be so obscure that maybe we weren't meant to completely get what was in the songwriter's head. Maybe we were meant to interpret it for ourselves and give it meaning that is significant to us.

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In the despair of her lover's denouncement, his likely execution, and in the midst of thwarting Scarpia's aggressive tactics, Tosca sings the haunting prayer in the aria, "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore"

Lyrics: I lived for art, I lived for love/ I never did harm to a living soul!/ With a secret hand I relieved as many misfortunes as I knew of./ Always with true faith my prayer/ rose to the holy shrines./ Always with true faith/ I gave flowers to the altar./ In the hour of grief why, why o Lord?/Why do you reward me thus?/ I gave jewels for the Madonna's mantle/ and I gave my song to the stars, to heaven, which smiled with more beauty./ In the hour of grief why, why, o Lord, ah, why do you reward me thus?

Although Tosca herself is not dying, she is singing in the realization that she will soon lose her lover, and I see contemporary palliative care themes in this prayer. This type of plea could easily be whispered by family members at the bedside of one dying or by the patient them self.



First there is the accounting of worth. We reflect on our character and persona. For Tosca her list includes a passion for love and art, a humble generosity (secret hand relieving misfortunes), and a respect for others (no harm).

Second is an evaluation in accordance to our faith traditions. Tosca lists her offerings of flowers and prayers in the shrines and alters, and jewels for Madonna.

Finally is the assessment of career and external works. Tosca was a singer, so she reflects that she sung and the world was more beautiful from her contribution.

Aren't these classic elements of reflection? Who we are internally, externally and if appropriate, who we are in accordance to our faith tradition?

The purpose to Tosca's reflection, however, is really a question. What strikes most listeners, endearing this aria to audiences, is the timeless question, "why?". Why do bad things happen to good people?

Listening to this aria with the 'why?' in mind, you will hear the despair and the grief in Tosca's words. Perhaps this song can help us to explore with others those deeper areas for reflection.

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The annual assembly for the AAHPM is this week in Boston, MA. There are a few plugs we wanted to put in for the Pallimed family if you'll be attending.

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This post was inspired by a book I recently read, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust. If you happen to be attending the AAHPM Annual Assembly next month, this is the book that will be talked about in the first ever AAHPM Book Club (link to AAHPM blog that talks about the book) (Saturday, March 6 from 12:15-1:15). I know from the Pallimed group Amy, Christian and I will all be in attendance, so read the book and come join us!

American poet, Walt Whitman, was born in 1819. He is perhaps best known for his collection of poetry Leaves of Grass which is perhaps best known for its controversial sexual themes. Whitman initially published this collection of poetry in 1855 but he continued working on it, adding more poetry until right before his death in 1892. What I didn't know about Whitman until reading Faust's book was his involvement in the American Civil War and how his experiences shaped his poetry.

Whitman's brother was a soldier in the Union Army. When Whitman heard that he had been wounded, he hurried to Virginia to be with him. His brother had only minor injuries but he found many who were much worse off. He began visiting the soldiers. He would spend time with them and write letters home for them. He would also write letters to soldiers family members to tell them of the soldier's death, providing reassurance that they had had a good death. His poetry reflected this experience.

Below is the poem "Pensive on Her Dead Gazing, I Heard the Mother of All", written after the end of the war.

PENSIVE, on her dead gazing, I heard the Mother of All,
Desperate, on the torn bodies, on the forms covering the battle-fields gazing;
(As the last gun ceased—but the scent of the powder-smoke linger'd;)
As she call’d to her earth with mournful voice while she stalk’d:
Absorb them well, O my earth, she cried—I charge you, lose not my sons! lose not an atom;
And you streams, absorb them well, taking their dear blood;
And you local spots, and you airs that swim above lightly,
And all you essences of soil and growth—and you, my rivers’ depths;
And you, mountain sides—and the woods where my dear children’s blood, trickling, redden’d;
And you trees, down in your roots, to bequeath to all future trees,
My dead absorb—my young men’s beautiful bodies absorb—and their precious, precious, precious blood;
Which holding in trust for me, faithfully back again give me, many a year hence,
In unseen essence and odor of surface and grass, centuries hence;
In blowing airs from the fields, back again give me my darlings—give my immortal heroes;
Exhale me them centuries hence—breathe me their breath—let not an atom be lost;
O years and graves! O air and soil! O my dead, an aroma sweet!
Exhale them perennial, sweet death, years, centuries hence.

In this poem, Whitman hears the "Mother of All" mourning the loss of the fallen soldiers. She asks the earth to absorb them well and hold on to them for her so that they are part of the earth for centuries, immortal as part of the air and soil.

Whitman was also very moved by the death of Abraham Lincoln. He wrote the famous poem "O Captain! My Captain" in response to his death.

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

In Faust's book, she points out that Lincoln's grand funeral was like a surrogate funeral for all those who died in the war who did not have a "proper burial". Their families didn't have the opportunity to say goodbye in that way. Often they didn't even know the exact fate of their loved one. They were just presumed dead. Whenever I have read "O Captain! My Captain" in the past, I always read it pertaining just to Lincoln. Now I wonder if it doesn't have a broader meaning. Maybe Whitman wasn't just thinking about Lincoln, but about all the civil war dead.

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Can't always get to a computer to get to Pallimed?  Well now iPhone (and iTounch and iPad) users have an option to read Pallimed and Pallimed: Arts and Humanities (including comments to both blogs) with the very first Pallimed FREE iPhone app.

by Pixel 196,5

Simple, well thought-out, a great way to keep up with the latest information in palliative care. I've never read this blog before but I'll be following it regularly now! Thank you for doing this.

You are welcome Pixel 196,5!

If you have an iPhone we encourage you to get the FREE Pallimed iPhone app and review it.  Maybe it will rise in the standings and more Pallimed naive people may get the app and learn more about hospice and palliative medicine issues.

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If you were to non-verbally depict the emotion of grief, I would assume many would strike a pose of head in your hands. This simple gesture I found in countless photographs and paintings as I searched for this weeks art collection of pieces with the title "Grief".

I tried to find less traditional images, however, I've always liked this oil painting by Gene Gould, "Grief" (c1965). Though with that same pose, it conveys much with the colors used and the drips of paint.

With similar color scheme and graphic representation of body posturing is this piece to the right by Gustave Miller entitled "Grief".


Both of these imply a solitary grief, but consoling and shared grief is also important. I found an artist named Linda Branch Dunn who keeps a website of her pieces. She works mostly with fabrics. This was an interesting look at an artist's work in progress. The first photo to the left is a fabric piece entitled "Grief" (2007), depicting 2 people in embrace. She mentions being inspired by a photo after a bombing. Click on the image to see the exquisite detail of the stitching.


What is interesting is that she mentions just framing it, but then changes course, as she adds much more color and fabric, leading to a different piece, the title changing to "Fractured" (2007). I find the pieces completely different, even though you still see the original in Fractured. Which one do you like better?





Moving into a bit more abstract is this piece by Pat Goslee, a mixed media on paper called "Grief Underneath" (2008). The impression the piece leaves me with is that of someone, again head down, clutching their gut. However, as is the case with more abstract works, you may see something completely different. The color scheme is less gloomy the the first 2 pieces.





For the sculpture contribution to this gallery edition, I've chosen the work by Henri Laurens (1885-1954) called "Le Douleur (Grief)". What is ironic is that it adorns the grave of it's creator in Paris. Did Henri have in mind his own death as he worked on the piece? Perhaps it was anticipatory grief, a phenomenon we talk of often in palliative medicine. Again the figure hunches inward, grasping what seems to be a pillow.

The common theme of most of the works does seem to be physically posturing inward. Is that because emotionally grief brings us inward?

If you like these gallery posts do check out the previous installments of "Last Breath", "Pain", "Afterlife", "Restless", and "Stillness".

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Every time I make the 4 1/2 hour drive to see my parents, I can't help but notice the large number of crosses, flowers, even teddy bears and balloons that adorn the roadside. Some are very well maintained, even beautiful while others make me wonder where memorials cross the line into littering. (The photo to the right is a memorial placed on the roadside where a murdered women's body was found.) When I've encountered a particularly eye catching memorial, I will admit to slightly slowing down to check it out. What I never realized until I started researching this post is how very controversial these memorials are.

The Room for Debate Blog, run by the New York Times, had a very interesting post about the ongoing battles being had over these sites. They brought in several different experts to argue both sides of the issue. Are they memorials or distractions? Beautiful folkart or driving hazards?

Attorney Robert Tiernan successfully defended a man who was accused of illegally removing a roadside memorial. He argues that these memorials are themselves illegal. They use public property for private uses. Crosses and other Christian symbols placed in public places are a violation of the separation of church and state. Memorials are a distraction and a hazard as mourners will commonly stop at inappropriate places to visit and maintain them. They are often elaborate and anchored to the ground which could be a hazard if a motorist lost control and hit one.

Another one of the blog panelists, anthropologist Sylvia Grider argues that it is a very old practice, brought over to Mexico and the Southwest US in the 17th century from Spanish colonists whose custom was to mark the site of death with a small cross. They are called descansos. And she argues that these are sacred sites, not necessarily religious even though they may contain religious symbols.

"I regard the attempts of various authorities to legislate or regulate this custom as futile and misguided because those who feel the need to memorialize their loved ones near the roadways where they died will continue to do so, regardless of legislation or other attempts at control. In many cases, where authorities have removed roadside shrines, families and loved ones simply replace them. Tradition is a powerful force in society."

So where do the states come down on this issue? Some states like Colorado, Wyoming and West Virginia put up their own memorials to cut down on the safetly issues with mourners stopping to maintain sites. (To the left are the signs placed by the state of Wyoming.) In New Mexico, where the custom is so strong, it is a misdemeanor to remove or vandalize sites. California and Montana allow memorials but only if alcohol was involved. Wisconsin and New Jersey limit the amount of time a memorial can be up. Delaware has developed a sort of roadside memorial park at some highway exits with reflection pools and victims names engraved on red bricks. This is meant to discourage the placement of memorials by giving families a safer place to grieve. Currently, many states have laws regarding roadside memorials.

Below is a clip from "Resting Places" which is a documentary on roadside memorials. The three people interviewed are lawyer Robert Tiernan, roadside memorial investigator/photographer David Nance and a mother who made a roadside memorial to her son.



This is obviously a much hotter issue than I first realized. I'm not sure what side I come down on. On one hand, it's the job of state governments to keep public spaces clean and hazard free. On the other hand, do state governments cross a line when they dictate how people can and can't grieve? My thought is that there needs to be some sort of meeting in the middle, such as the memorial parks they have in Delaware or the memorial signs that Wyoming places. What do you think?