Macbeth of the Teaching Hospital

And from the ashes of the illiterate, the deranged,
And the harrowing unborn whiteness, arose a
Man undrowned amidst the horrors of the world,
He that roamed over the wasteland and the

Cryptic undrawn howling, a mind forever locked
Unto the spires of ambition; for there was no
Order that he would disobey, and he knew of
No law but that of cold hegemony, and the

Witches stood watch over this man born of the
Gloaming, and duly marked this resident as a
Man called Macbeth; take heed ye wanderers,
For all must kneel before Death’s sovereign –

As christened by he who was anointed to reign
Over the unborn babe – and who with crown and
Scepter was made dread lord over all the innocent,
As the crosses duly burned amidst the fires of

Dominion; from the most sought after internship,
Residency, and fellowship bound – the favorite child
Of Satan thereon was found; his main challenger
For that most coveted of thaneships, craved by all,

And yet rued by the merciful, would neither his soul
Defile, nor betray his sacred oath to do harm to none,
And as old Duncan once with irony spake: “What he
Hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won”.

David Penner’s articles on politics and health care have appeared in Dissident Voice, CounterPunch, Global Research, The Saker blog, OffGuardian and KevinMD; while his poetry can be found at Dissident Voice, Mad in America, and redtailedhawk.substack.com. Also a photographer, he is the author of three books of portraiture: Faces of The New Economy, Faces of Manhattan Island, and Manhattan Pairs. He can be reached at 321davidadam@gmail.com. Read other articles by David.