Posted on August 30, 2016February 17, 2023 by Ashley Davidoff

Pain, Pain -Go Away!

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You came with no warning and no invitation

You came with a single message of doom and gloom

I had no control

It was fate

It was no joke

I had to take you seriously

You seem to be endless and to be going nowhere

With the unintended intention to taunt and haunt me

You are the source of my suffering.

Since the dawn of man

You have accompanied us with a not so gentle reminder

That everything is not OK

Some say you are protective

But it is sometimes hard to understand

All I know is that I suffer

Nociceptors sense the feeling

They come in different forms

Transmitting pain from pressure, prick, or improper heat,

– or a severe lack of it

Quickly the sensation travels

On the A, delta, or C train-

Impulses that run their course

From source to spinal cord

With sizzling hot news of my experience

Where they snap to a halt as they clap as a synapse

And get a second order of direction

At the gate of decision

Which waves them on to a new thoughtless action

On their way to master control.

And through and via the wire of the RAS

Which awakens an awareness of you;

And then to the thalamic relay

Where they get their new orders:

To whom they should turn

And what direction to take.

In the higher levels of limbic autonomic and homunculus centers

pain-0015-catalogue-signed

The sense becomes real

And the feeling becomes severe

And after all the science

I know not what to do

But to increase my heart rate a little,

Contract a muscle and a gland or two

And perhaps let out a scream at the height –

And impugn your intrusive impudence that imposes on me.

pain, nociceptor, poem, prayer, sensory system, thalamus, A fiber, delta fiber, C fiber, Ashley Davidoff MD. The Common Vein, Art in Anatomy

And then sometimes

We use the eyes and guise

Of X-ray Eyes

Or try a tincture of opiate

To extirpate the excruciate –

And then sometimes to no avail

Yet I could care less about your wonderful pathways of biology and science

I know that I hurt -but also in a different way

It is not only the pain that I feel

But the pain of fate as well

That was handed to me as a card in a bad deal of nature

And I have no choice but to deal with it …..

But it hurts!

person, old lady, emotional pain, aging, poverty, loneliness

See the BLOG about the Art and Science of Pain

Ashley Davidoff MD

Revised since publication as a Blog August 2016

Posted on May 16, 2016February 17, 2023 by Ashley Davidoff

Melanoma – A Personal Tragedy

Dad

He was 6 years old in his native Lithuania

a shy boyish smile in a family photograph

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And I noticed his boots-

With both feet sitting squarely on the ground

That was my father

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And then they came..

So the family fled eastward..

And then westward..

A father and a brother died in the heat of a Russian idea and its winter

Again they came..

So the family packed up and fled

A new country, a new hope

Going to school with other boys

Shy and determined in the school football team

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Hard times for the family

A sales job at pitiful pay during pitiful times

Walking many miles to save pennies…

To make pennies

It all helped

Eldest brother by this time was succeeding with a partner who turned out to be rogue

And so now it was brothers in business starting at a low

At first shoemaking was slow- and cumbersome of course

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But time and dedication and the needs of a new family with three sons made good for many years

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And all the sons went into a profession

Just a small black nodule on the calf of his leg

No – not very good

The large glands contained the same foreboding

“Shoe business for sale”… “Sold”

A fever – doctors said it may be OK – but on the other hand it may not

And then it descended

We cried, we cried a lot

I walked along with five others

Two in front

Three to my side

And my mother and brothers were all there

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And I remembered his boots….

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I hope to stand square on the ground,
And walk in his footsteps

Posted on March 28, 2016February 17, 2023 by Ashley Davidoff

I am the Colon- In the Bowels of the Body, I Reside and Work

A Poem about the Colon

I am the Colon

I have not captured the imagination of poets, artists, and historians.

Unlike my brothers and sisters the heart, liver, and the brain,

I am usually a subject that is avoided in cultured circles,

And commonly the butt of coarse jocularity in casual circles.

My contents are usually used as expletives of disgust and disagreement,

While my tail end is used in reference to the last and the least.

Let me tell you my story …..

I am the colon – they also call me the large bowel.

Some call me the “large howl” because of the noises that I make.

I do make noises – most of the time I sing a droning song while I go about my work,

Almost like a bass or double bass.

Sometimes I have to let off steam and then the wind instruments take charge,

With sounds that range from a piercing bleat to the beautiful alto furtive blurt.

When my contents are fluid I can tinkle along like a triangle in a percussion band.

Borborygmi they are called –quite a fancy name for a rather primitive sound.

Talking about music, I was surprised to read that Mozart took an interest in me.

His scatological letters are infamous, though admittedly his music is genius.

I am somewhat proud of his obsession for me.

So much for what people think or have thought. Let me give you my perspective.

My body is unique! No other structure in the body comes close.

With my taenia coli and rounded haustra I am adorned in appendices epiploica.

The three beautiful, graceful and gracile taenia run along the entire length of my body.

I really like these sleek muscles

Sleek Tenia Coli Muscle and Voluptuous Haustra

So symmetrically positioned around my circumference.

They are always a tad tight, giving me my voluptuous bulges – the haustra.

I like those too.

They give me haughtiness and sometimes a naughtiness – those haughty naughty voluptuous haustra.

…and here it comes again: their fancy shmancy name: “appendices epiploica.”

The Ugly Appendices Epiploica

I hate them! I don’t understand what function they play …

What in heaven’s name was God thinking when he put those fatty …things!… on my waist?

I detest them! Do you hear me? D-E-T-E-S-T!

They may have been the fashion in the time of Adam and Eve,

But God, please get with the times – they are way out of fashion.

Now all riled up I continue my rant and rave.

Chyme they call it!

Chyme my ass! (Oops, I should not have said that.)

They give it a fancy Latin name to make you think it is elegant.

What would you feel like if you were dealt the grime and sludge that I am dealt?

It is pure muck with all the good things removed – dirty slimy muck!

And this is only the beginning.

Wait for the obnoxious gas that those bacteria fellows produce.

It presses on my sides and makes the jowls of my bowels howl.

Talk about noxious and obnoxious – we should bring OSHA down here.

I feel a little better now that I have let off some steam,

So I resign myself to my lot in life and I deal with it and in it.

My cryptic workers – God bless mein lieber kinder, the crypts of Lieberkuhn:

God Bless Mein Lieber Crypts of Lieberkuhn

They take that stuff into their crypts and work away at it for hours and sometimes days.

And voila – with bubble, bubble, toil and trouble,

A well molded product of dehydrated debris

Mixed with a tincture of mucus, a bead of sweat, and fermented gas for the rise,

To which I add a drop of color with my stercobilin

To form beautiful compacted nuggets called scybalae.

Getting rid of the product and passing it on into the free world is yet another story.

Some wondrous interactions are going on between me and my muscles (and you and your muscles, and your marvelous mind and body).

To cut a long story short, the coordination is quite something until we finally get the job done.

I heave a sigh of relief when I see the fruit of my labor out of the door.

In the end I am very happy to be part of your body,

To do my little thing, retrieve some water, and earn my keep.

So that you can experience another wondrous day, enjoy another meal,

And live to tell another tail … end story.

The End

This poem has been modified from its original version published in the module on The Colon in the The Common Vein web site

Posted on February 5, 2016February 17, 2023 by Ashley Davidoff

Heart Symbolisms – Cultural Anatomy

Heaven’s Heart

Heart symbolisms abound in almost every culture. The heart has been the center of almost every civilization, and assigned the epicentre of physical emotional and spiritual life. In ancient cultures the brain was mostly ignored and its many functions were attributed to the heart. Despite new knowledge, many of the ancient cultural concepts remain ingrained in the religion, the psyche, language, literature, poetry, and art of modern civilization.

In the West, the heart has evolved as a symbol of love, in both romantic and religious spheres. In the East, it is seen as a symbol of wisdom and spirituality.

Heart Symbolisms in History

Ancient belief in almost every major culture put the heart and heart symbolisms at the centre of the body and soul . Life with all its emotions, thoughts and beliefs centered around the heart.

The iconic heart symbol was identified in the culture of the Cro Magnon hunters of Europe before the last Ice Age (10,000-8000 BCE). The inference of the icon to the hunters remains a mystery.

The ancient Egyptians (3500BC-1000 BC) believed the heart controlled the mind and soul, and that it was the center of morality. It was also considered the source of memory, emotions, and personality. They believed that God spoke to individuals through the heart. There was concern among Egyptians that after death, that the heart might testify against the deceased; to prevent this, the ancient Egyptians often wrapped a heart scarab within the bandages to prevent the heart from speaking. They also preserved the heart during mummification so it would not be weighed during judgement after death.

The 5000 year old ancient Chinese culture believes that the heart is the root of the body, mind and soul of life. Additionally it controls joy, reflects facial expression, and has important roles in the psyche.

The Jewish culture goes back 5000 years as well. The Old testament, originated around 1500 BC, and references to the heart abound . It is viewed as the organ of conscience, the origin of human action, imagination, determination, emotion, love, virtue and vice, good and evil, humility and pride. The heart is revealed as the “inner” person:

“the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” [Samuel 16:7].

Also among many other references

“it grieved him (God) at his heart.”

Genesis 6:6

The word “heart” appears 725 times in the Old testament,

Art in the Clouds, Love, and Prayer

Love and Prayer …… a cloud in the sky that says it all… or at least some of it… The art piece is a collection of different modes of prayer with the same goal in mind ie to connect with a higher power. An idea of a central God may not necessarily fit with all religions,. The central “God” therefore in this piece relates to a central focus of core beliefs.

In Hinduism, a culture that started around 1750 BCE, teaches that the heart is the center of life, action, emotion, consciousness, and the soul. The belief is that it nourishes the organs and supplies energy for the formation of semen. Similar to Egyptian belief, it has importance in connecting heaven and earth. It also is the organ where the love of God is experienced.

In ancient Greece, Aristotle, who lived in the 4th century B.C., described the heart as the most important organ of the body. He considered it the seat of intelligence, motion, sensation and vitality.

In Christianity the heart reflects love, piety, and charity. In the art of the middle ages and thereafter, the flaming heart reflects religious passionate fervor. A flaming heart pierced by an arrow symbolizes faith despite trial, and repentance. The New Testament started in the middle of the 1st century AD. Jesus repeatedly uses “pure of heart”

Paul prays

“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;” [Ephesians 3:3].

The word “heart” appears 105 times in the New Testament.

In the 1st millennium AD in ancient Mexico, the Teotihuacan culture believed that the the teyolia – the spiritual force of the heart, was responsible for life.

Galen who lived in the second century A. D., reaffirmed the Greek concepts of the heart and promoted it as the organ most closely related to the soul.

The Heart of Galen – Creator of the Vital Spirit

The AiA rendering shows the body according to Galen. Heat plays a central role in his theory. He believed the heart was closely related to the soul and the source of the body’s heat . The liver, he taught was the primary source of the humors that controlled the body, and that the heart played a subordinate role.

At the beginning of the eleventh century, the Persian, Avicenna (980-1037 AD), authored “The Book of Healing” that included medical and philosophical content. Avicenna describes the heart as the source of life.

The Aztecs a nomadic tribe of northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica in the 13th century and reached their pinnacle in the 15th century. They believed that the heart, or the yollotli, was the seat of life and the soul. Before cremation a green jewel was placed in the mouth of the dead person to represent the heart. The culture also believed that human sacrifice for the offering of the heart to the Gods was required for ongoing prosperity. It was a ritual performed at the highest level and required to honour the gods. Interestingly the yollotli was also a standard of measurement from the mid chest to the tip of the outstretched arm, equivalent to about 3 feet.

In summary the heart was central to the body mind of soul in so many cultures that it pervaded day to day life, and therefore became central to the emotional aspects of most, if not all cultures. The innate need to represent these emotions in all facets of life including religion, philosophy, literature, poetry, music, and art was a natural outcome.

The History of the Icon

History of the Shape of the Heart Icon

The collage reveals the symbols that contributed to the shape of the heart icon as we know it. The shape of the heart became familiar to cultures who hunted or sacrificed animals (image top left). The heart shaped leaves and seeds had parallel emotional connections. The silphium seed for example (seen as golden heart shaped structure above) , was used by ancient Greeks for contraception and was reproduced on their coins. Organs relating to the nitty gritty of romance including breasts, mons pubis, buttocks and scrotum have rotund shape that has parallels in the icon of the heart . It is no wonder that the the shape gained popularity and application to the romantic elements of life.

This art piece was adapted and modified from public domain photograph by Frank Eugene, taken 1898, called Adam and Eve and published in Camera Work no. 30,1910

Art and the Heart – A History

History of Heart Symbolism

The earliest use of the heart as a symbol of love is found in an art piece in the middle of the 13th century. The collage depicts, romantic, religious, devotion, emotion, bravery, heraldry, mathematics, geometry, botany, card games, Valentine’s day, and finally and central in the art piece – the traditional emoticon.

Literature and the Heart

Shakespeare and the Heart

From the late Middle Ages onward, literature and poetry romanticize the heart. The above art piece used information from the Oxford Shakespeare Concordance and identifies the frequency of the word heart and heart related words (eg heartless and heartily). More than 1100 instances were found.

In the Divine Comedy, Dante (1265-1321) refers to

Love, which is quickly kindled in the gentle heart,
seized this man for the fair form that was
taken from me, and the manner still hurts me.

Also…

Pride, Envy, and Avarice are
the three sparks that have set these hearts on fire.

Valentine’s day itself first became associated with romance during the time of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400).

Literature in which the word “heart” appears in the title from the late 18th, 19th and early 20th century include among many; Heart of the Midlothian – Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe (1809-1849, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), The Heart of Man by Erich Fromm (1900-1980), Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (1917-1967), Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown (1908 – 2002)

Poetry and the Heart

The association of the heart and love abound in poetry.

Charles d’Orlean was a member of the French Royal family who lived in the 15th century. While captive in England he wrote love poems such as the one translated below

Because I cannot see you,
My heart complains day and night,
Lovely lady, peerless one of France,
And has charged me to write you
That he does not have all he desires
In the Prison of Discontent.

by Charles d’Orlean and translated by David A. Fein

Some famous poems of the the late 19th and early 20th century which include the word heart in the title; My Heart and I by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), Never Give All The Heart, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), Flame Heart Claude McKay (1889-1948), The Trusting Heart, Dorithy Parker (1893 -1967), I Carry Your Heart with Me – EE Cummings (1894-1962), The Laughing Heart Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)

Music and the Heart

heart0035-catalogue-signed-500-72dpi

Middle Ages Music, Heart and Love

AiA combined two art pieces that are in the public domain; Heart shaped musical score of Baude Cordier is an offering of love to a lady. Christian and Muslim playing Lutes from the Canticles of Holy Mary during the reign of Alfonso X El Sabio (1221–1284)

Recent Music and the Heart

The Heart in Modern Song

Song ..another emotional outlet for the expression of love romance, and spirituality in culture. Between 1956 and 1978, 15 artists used the word “HEART” in the title of their song and each sold more than a million copy of their records.

Evolving Use of Heart Symbolisms

Valentines Day is a classical example of the persistent use of the symbol of the heart as a symbol of love and romance and it appears on all types of commercial products. The icon of the heart for communication on the web, in emails, electronic messaging, graffiti, in all sorts of arts and crafts abound almost adnauseum.

We seem to be returning to the world of hieroglyphics – and the icon of the heart almost always sends a positive message – and so … that is always good!

References

Jager Eric – Reading the Book of the heart from the Middle Ages to the twenty First Century; University of Chicago Press

ART IN ANATOMY

Tag: poetry