Heat stroke victim - The Art of Medicine - Poem

Journal of Family Practice, May, 2002 by Howard F. Stein

   They said on the six o'clock news
   That he was the fifteenth casualty
   Of the current heat wave.
   Ninety-three, lived alone in a rundown house
   On the east side of town, had a fan
   That moved the hot air across the room.
   They didn't give his name, only told us
   To drink lots of water, try to stay indoors,
   And go somewhere cool, like the mall,
   If you don't have air conditioning.
   I wanted to know his shoe size, his favorite book,
   Whether he liked mayonnaise or mustard
   On his sandwiches, who would remember him,
   How he managed to live to ninety three,
   And why he died this time. But only the heat wave
   Made it to the news, and that he was
   Casualty number fifteen.

Howard F. Stein, PhD. Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 900 NE 10th St., Oklahoma City, OK 73104. E-mail: howardstein@ouhsc.edu