A beautiful poem by a National Academy of Osteopathy student; Dr Chris Vincent, MBBS:
The Art of Reading Manual Osteopathy
A Poem
All book covers can create
the borders of a country
as chapters become cities
with titles as their names.
The pages are the warriors
embellished in suits of armour
designed with the chain-mail
of single words and sentences.
Hold a book in your hands,
then close your eyes and feel
the weight of ideas and thoughts.
Open the book to spread the wings.
Like a regal eagle flying upward
in the sky of ideas and creativity
to reach the snow capped peaks
of the mountains of knowledge.
Information, history, fiction,
biography, drama and Science
are magnificent hues painted
on the resplendent dawn
of the incredible human mind,
as viewed from the peak.
Punctuations become the echelon
of noisy birds tearing the mind,
away from a fixed viewpoint
towards the direction of relevance.
Pictures, diagrams and art
along with graphs and photos
warn us about the cougars, lions,
panthers and jaguars crouching
by the caves, hiding behind rocks
and prowling at the foothills
to test the beliefs, superstitions,
fears and the unbreakable resolve
of the powerful human spirit.
The four principles of osteopathy
become the four cardinal winds
blowing from all four directions
turning the pages of curiosity
to vindicate the inquiring mind.
The pen that wrote the premise
and the brush that painted the art,
prove that human bodies are like
many different kinds of books
that tell different kinds of stories
but fundamentally very similar.
Manual Osteopathic Practice,
addresses the patient’s concern
cover to cover, in a combination
of methodical chapter reads,
selective topic reads, summary
and also in its entirety,
to understand and heal the body
while standing on the shoulders
of giants: the spoken word, written
notes, audio books, paperbacks,
hard cover textbooks and Braille.
Written by – Dr. Chris Vincent, MBBS (NAO student, class of September 2015, Toronto)
