This poem is included in the digital library as part of a partnership between the OHSU Library and the Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative to share Narrative Medicine curriculum and the items used in those teaching sessions. For additional information about how the poem is used in teaching and a community driven context, please visit Accessible Narrative Medicine website.

Richard Blanco has taught at Georgetown and American institutions. He is a fellow of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the recipient of two Florida Artist Fellowships. Blanco was also Barack Obama's inauguration poet for 2013. His poems have been featured on NPR and have been included in Best American Poetry 2000 and Best American Prose Poems, respectively. His poetry examines topics of Latino identity and geography. Blanco is also a professional civil engineer. (Source: upittpress.org)