Poetry Category Winner
Because of Her
She looks up at the sky—
fluorescent lights, inquisitive eyes.
She is quiet.
Clouded liquid threads through her veins.
Hands rush to wrap her calves.
Another marks her chest with precision.
A shadow in the corner gathers knives.
A silhouette leans close and whispers,
“Close your eyes.”
As her body stills,
the chosen seven take their places,
charged by her unseen flame. “Time out.”
She becomes the hive,
encircled by a swarm of bees.
“Incision.”
Dark honey trickles down her side,
covering blue ink that reads:
spread kindness.
Those words flicker—
between streaks of ember,
and bubbles of smoke,
ignited by her own electricity.
Even motionless,
she guides the room’s purpose.
As the dark drapes lift,
colors coalesce around her.
She looks up and sees—
how much force lives in her stillness,
how much of our movement she propelled.
Author: Amishi Taneja
Bio: Amishi Taneja is a medical student at the University of Michigan Medical School, who finds meaning in the stories that unfold between patients and their care teams. She turns to writing—especially poetry—as a way to make sense of the joys, griefs, and quiet moments that come with training in medicine. Her work is inspired by the people she meets in the hospital and the stories they share. Through narrative medicine, she hopes to stay grounded in empathy and carry those stories with her into her future as a physician.
My poem, Because of Her, explores the idea that movement isn't always loud or physical—sometimes, it's generated by presence, stillness, and quiet power. Set in an operating room, the poem centers on a woman whose still body catalyzes the precise, charged actions of everyone around her. She does not move, yet everything moves because of her. I wanted to capture how profound impact can exist in silence, and how motion often begins in moments of pause.