Angina Pectoris Poem by Nazim Hikmet

Angina Pectoris

Rating: 3.2


If half my heart is here, doctor,
the other half is in China
with the army flowing
toward the Yellow River.
And, every morning, doctor,
every morning at sunrise my heart
is shot in Greece.
And every night,c doctor,
when the prisoners are asleep and the infirmary is deserted,
my heart stops at a run-down old house
in Istanbul.
And then after ten years
all i have to offer my poor people
is this apple in my hand, doctor,
one read apple:
my heart.
And that, doctor, that is the reason
for this angina pectoris--
not nicotine, prison, or arteriosclerosis.
I look at the night through the bars,
and despite the weight on my chest
my heart still beats with the most distant stars.


Trans. by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk (1993)

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Dr Antony Theodore 18 April 2020

doctor, that is the reason for this angina pectoris- not nicotine, prison, or arteriosclerosis. I look at the night through the bars, and despite the weight on my chest my heart still beats with the most distant stars. my heart always beating the most distant stars. tony

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James Wendt 13 October 2004

as a physician, I must say this is a most amazing poem-a poem that examplifies narrative medicine

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