EMPATHY AUTHOR Timir Banerjee , MD
The ewe lamb I huddled next to my mom That ’ s all I had learnt to do She and I had bonded She knew my smell And I knew the sound of her baa ! She called me whenever I walked away I came back to her in a hurry I drank from her teat She stood for me
I knelt down and bumped her hard at times to get the milk She always knew that it was me .
If anyone else tried to sneak for her teat She bumped them away Cause the milk was for me .
I laid and laid for long with my face next to her teat But my mom didn ’ t move for me The old farmer grabbed me and put me in a room with the orphans I made friends but I didn ’ t know That all of them were like me .
I didn ’ t know the rubber nipple
But I was hungry and the smell of the milk in the bottle enticed me I didn ’ t know Matthew 18:12-14 or Luke 15:3-7 But their God in heaven Had destined me to be with these seven Cause I had learned that the green grass Of the spring lacked calcium and magnesium And my mom had died of seizures from lack of the same .
I am the ewe lamb alone and scared That needs to be held Please love me because seizures stole My mom , my love , my life that had made me whole .
I am stressed and lost waiting for your God to guide you to help me in my strife .
I stood behind the door that housed the orphans with my ears perched I heard the voices of other mothers calling their babies But I couldn ’ t hear my mom calling for me .
I am the ewe lamb I need your touch , I need your love And I know that the balm of Gilead Is what I need
To be calm and to believe and to look ahead !
FEATURE
Dr . Banerjee is a clinical professor of neurosurgery at the University of Louisville .
MAY 2021 23