NC Farmworker Health Program

Menu
  • About
    • Our Work
    • Staff
    • Board
    • Sites We Fund
    • Collaborations
    • HRSA Funding Acknowledgement
    • Close
  • Farmworker Health
    • Farmworker History
    • Farmworker Health Facts
    • Digital Inclusion and Equity for Farmworkers
    • 340B Program
    • Close
  • Resources
    • Outreach
      • FHASES
      • Outreach Forms
      • Outreach Manual
      • Finding Workers
      • Patient Education Materials
      • Internet Connectivity Resources
      • Apps
    • Trainings
      • June Outreach Orientation
      • Health Education Modules
    • Clinicians
      • Pesticide Poisoning
      • Make your clinic farmworker friendly
    • Directories
      • Farmworker Health Clinic Map
      • NCFHP Behavioral Health Services Directory 2020
      • Farmworker Organizations
      • 340B Formulary
      • Research Articles
    • Close
  • News
    • NCFHP REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA) FOR 2023
    • Caring for All of North Carolina’s Agricultural Community
    • The NC State Extension Farm Safety Project: Measuring Change through Collaboration
    • More News…
    • Close
  • Events
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Newsletters
    • Close
  • COVID-19
    • COVID-19 Updates
    • Order COVID-19 Supplies and Resources
    • Our Work During COVID-19
    • Close

NCFHP Medical Director Recognized for Poetry

August 18, 2017 by Mary Johnson Rockers

The following poem by NCFHP’s medical director, Dr. Gayle Thomas, was selected as First Place Winner of the 2017 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Poetry and Prose Competition. It is expected to be published in the Journal of Family Medicine.

The Migrant Farmworker

We arrive with the twilight to the camp hidden in the fields
bats swoop low
stars come out
the distant summer thunderstorm flickers and rumbles
He and his fellow farmworkers gather
the monotony of dawn to dusk labor broken by our presence
as tables lanterns charts and blood pressure cuffs are set out
He offers us water
hospitality
his handshake
we work to deserve his trust
Bearing witness to his industry and expertise
we inquire after his family
admire photos of those for whom he toils
and race to finish so he can rest before his daily predawn rising
His hands harvesting sweet spring strawberries rash and itch
Is it pesticide or plant?
His back bent for hours priming tobacco aches at night
Is it oppressive ergonomics or systems?
His eyes exposed for years to sun and dust cloud with pterygia
Do they dim his vision of his future?
His shoulders bearing heavy bins of sweet potatoes wear at the rotator cuff
Are forty five cents per bin worth what he pays in pain?
His arms plunging into ripe berry bushes are scratched and scarred
But how to tend the scars of separation on his soul?
His body brushed by dewy tobacco leaves involuntarily absorbs nicotine
Why should he bear the burden of our cravings?
His mind once aspiring to creativity is now depressed by isolation
What could he have created?
His heart justly proud of hard work and provision is broken by injustice
Does our care though compassionate serve as scaffold for the sin?
We are the consumers
Is he the consumed?

–Gayle Thomas, MD

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

NC Farmworker Health Program, Office of Rural Health · 311 Ashe Ave. · Raleigh NC 27606 · Tel: 919-527-6440 · Fax: 919-733-2981
Copyright © 2023 NC Farmworker Health Program · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design