A Man among Millions

Today was my last day as a Specialist Leader at Deloitte Consulting. It was a special day. I got to be the emcee for ONC's all-day session on health information exchange at their annual meeting in DC. It was a day spent with people with whom I have been working for the last three years from all over the country -- many with whom I had worked shoulder to shoulder as I traveled to more than a dozen states to help them develop and execute on their strategic and operational plans for health information exchange. 

More and more I'm being asked to facilitate meetings. I try to bring some energy to the day and add some of my creative juices to the conversation -- through a song or a story or something new. These last few weeks, I've been so busy with Kym's health and my transition from Deloitte to AMIA that I didn't have time to think about doing something special for this meeting.  

Then last week, I had the privilege of spending three days with members of our armed forces at Aberdeen Proving Grounds on the Maryland coast at an "Innovation Deep Dive" session to develop innovative strategies for targeting tobacco use among our enlisted ranks in all the branches. There I met HN Taylor Mickal, a young hospital corpsman in the Navy who also happened to be a spoken word poet. We asked him to write something for the meeting and he shared an amazing piece with us the next day called Dive Deep. His poem inspired me to try my hand at free verse -- something I'd never really approached before.

Over the last 24 hours, I wrote this piece and was honored to be able to share it with some 200 HIE warriors at the end of the day. I am so grateful to ONC leaders Claudia Williams and Erica Galvez for giving me the opportunity to share a day with people I hold in such esteem. And am even more grateful for the way they received this piece.

Thank you for doing this important work.

A Man among Millions

tick tock

check the clock

it's moving faster

relentless

in its quest 

to stop us in our tracks

can you hear it?

faster than my beating heart

thumping with anxiety

checking for the reaper

over my shoulder

who's on a bender

hell-bent on the hunt
to take down those I love

tick tock

time won't stop

or take a break or hesitate 

to cut us off at the knees

yet here we stand

for what we believe 

can make a difference 

if we only make it flow

today we stand for flow --

for what we know is essential to the health

of this thing we call a healthcare system

we stand for flow

for overcoming the inertia of standing still

pushing information out 

transforming it from solid state to liquid gold

letting it go where it needs to go

...flowing into the chasm separating us

from the quality we pay for but don't receive

...flowing so the liquid data 

cascade and echo 

making ripples of insight

that concatenate to create tsunamis of knowledge

and so we organize ourselves

into exchanges

every state and territory

building its own story 

of how to make this work

in local circumstances

taking chances with taxpayer dollars

that we could never afford 

on our own accord

trying to fix on a massive scale 

the brokenness of our system

that we in our confessed complacency 

have grown to see as normal

millions --

nameless, faceless

suffering under the burden

of a system uninspired 

to go the extra mile --

are saying enough

I have a name

I have a voice

I have a face

I take a stand

here I stand

just one example 

of a man among millions

with a family lost in this maze

with a father who died

from cancer of his phantom prostate

that had been removed twenty years before

no PSAs for twenty years

why test for something long removed?

maybe because there's a chance it's not all gone

maybe the data are all there to know the answer

of whether it would have made a difference

this one simple test

here I stand 

just one example 

of a man among millions

with a family lost in this maze

with a mother slowly losing her way

keeping the memories of her youth

but forgetting those formed an hour ago

her children 

long away from their hometown

trying to connect the dots of her care

by remote control

"help! I've fallen and I can't get up"

doesn't reach to Atlanta or DC

so we rely on old technology of phone and fax

which isn't up to the task

as she rides 

from assisted living

to hospital

to rehab

and back again

while her medical records struggle 

to keep up the pace

here I stand

just one example 

of a man among millions

with a family lost in this maze

with a young son who enjoys good health

but has already faced the surgeon's scalpel 

at an age too young for his memory to recall

exactly why he has that scar on his back

or how his kidneys lack the full capacity

others take for granted

how will he know 

when he comes of age

what this means for him

his records passed down

from his elders

like an oral history

told around a campfire 

after a hunt for mastodons

here I stand

just one example 

of a man among millions

with a family lost in this maze

with a wife who bravely faces

cancer number three

in thirty years

who alone carries the burden

of coordinating care 

among the dozens and dozens

of providers who focus on

the particular part of her they understand

who alone carries the records

from place to place

from year to year

from diagnosis to diagnosis

hoping she can keep it all straight

so at the very least they do no harm

here I stand

one of the lucky ones

a man of means

with coverage

with knowledge

with friends

who stands helpless

to make the system work

for those who are the world for him

here I stand

in a room of my heroes

who possess amazing superpowers

to bend maze corners

into straight corridors

and change the flow

from a trickle 

to a torrent

I don't presume to know what drives you

what compels you in the morning to forego

another fifteen minutes sleep

and return to the battle

to do the heavy lifting

to add another line of code

to write another line of policy

to sign up one more to join the exchange

to solve one more problem

to make one more connection

to make it flow

but if you need a story to motivate

to steel your resolve to press on

mine is here and free for the taking

still better

forget my story

and tell your own

shout it from the rooftops

or whisper it only to yourself

but keep that picture

sharply focused in your mind

to give you the inspiration

to do the work

so we all can be 

one among the millions

whose information flows

The Legend of Bob the DERF

Cross-posting from informatimusicology.blogspot.com

 

From the ACMI Archives:

The Legend of Bob the DERF

Click here to listen to the song

The College has received several solicitations from potential members - requesting reviews of health IT related lyrics or recordings.  We thought it would be instructive to bring out some of the original works that led to the establishment of the College.  There is no better place to start than at the very beginning...

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP), is an ANSI-accredited standards development organization focused on pharmacy-related electronic information transactions headquarted in Scottsdale, Arizona.  In 2005, Dr. Ross Martin offered to compose a song for NCPDP for their Annual Conference.  His offer was accepted and a sponsor stepped forward to support the recording and reproduction costs for a CD.  Special thanks go to Lee Ann Stember, NCPDP's President, for sponsoring the song.  The lovely and talented Eric Schwartz (WARNING: he is brilliant, but uses his powers for evil, so his site is not for those of sensitive dispositions) produced and recorded the song, adding many of the vocals and most of the instrumentation.  Dr. Martin performed the song twice at the conference and several hundred copies of the CD, now considered a collector's item among devoted informatimusicologists, were distributed.  

The song, "The Legend of Bob the DERF," tells the tale of how we moved from our darker days of winner-takes-all standards setting to our current consensus process.  Those unfamiliar with NCPDP and its methods may be curious of the meaning of the term DERF.  It stands for "Data Element Request Form" and is the main document used in the NCPDP standards development process to establish or modify a standard.  Many who heard the song and are familiar with the history of NCPDP opined that the two characters depicted in the song - Bob the DERF and Margaret, aka, The Wacker - bore striking similarities to two long-time members of NCPDP, Bob Beckley of Surescripts and Margaret Weiker of EDS, both of whom are known for their strong leadership and equally strong opinions, which have occasionally put them at odds with one another, creating some of the more tense moments experienced at workgroup meetings.  Their southern accents and Margaret's diminutive stature (she is rumored to be around 4' 5" tall, though no one has had the kahunas to actually measure her or ask) provided reinforcement for some of these opinions.  In fact, the characters portrayed in the song are not based on any known individuals, living or dead.  Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' fer a fight!

The Lyrics:

Way back a hunert years ago
In a desert land devoid of snow
’Fore Scottsdale started dottin’ any maps
Snake Oil Salesmen roamed the West
Pitchin’ potions from their treasure chests
And shaftin’ any sucker wearin’ chaps

There was one man who had a dream
’Bout raisin’ druggists’ self esteem
By protectin’ the apothecary’s turf
He saw that standards were the key
For improvin’ drugstore quality
That man was known by all as Bob the DERF

Now any tale worth bein’ told
Includes a woman, guns or gold
Our hero’s rival ponied up all three
Margaret was her given name
But winnin’ gunfights brought her fame
So the name “The Whacker” fit her to a tee
And ev’ry time The Whacker flashed her gold incisor in a grin
The undertaker knew he’d soon be callin’ next of kin

CHORUS:
Hoo-ee ’n’ Yippee-ki-ee
Before the NCPDP
Consensus was a notion seldom found
Hoo-ah ’n’ Yippee-ki-yaw
The fastest shot laid down the law
The other laid down six feet underground

Now The Whacker had her standards too
And had in mind just what to do
To make sure things got done by her own rule
She called on Bob the DERF and said,
“You lily-livered pudd’nhead
It’s my way or the highway, ya’ dang fool!”

She knew her taunts would be enough
To razz him so he’d call her bluff
He slammed his whiskey down as if on cue
“Well we’ll just see ’bout who’ll be number one
High noon, tomorrow – bring your gun
But I’d skip town tonight if I was you!”

The bookies laid odds eight-to-five
The Whacker’d make it through alive
Her dead-eye aim was known throughout the land
It’s true that Margaret had her chance
But once they started in to dance
The DERF felt sure he’d be the last to stand
And so they set the stage to see whose standards would prevail
One slinger’d see sweet victory – and one the gates of Hell

REPEAT CHORUS

The clock chimed twelve – the wind was still
Too scared to see red rivers spill
And learn who’d bite the dust who’d survive
The two stepped out into the street
To face their fate at fifty feet
Then in a flash their pistols came alive

Bob the DERF’s resolve came through
His steady hand shot straight and true
A normal foe no doubt would have been dead
But one fact he failed to calculate –
The Whacker stood at four-foot-eight
And so her Stetson flew clean off her head

The DERF’s luck went from bad to worse
Didn’t even have a chance to curse
As The Whacker’s dental work gleamed through her smile
Her single shot was on the mark
It pierced his heart – the sky went dark
Right there he fell into a bloody pile
And as he died, The Whacker cried, “Oh, help me, Lord above!
All in the name of standards, I’ve just killed my one true love!”

REPEAT CHORUS

She lay her pistol down and swore upon her golden tooth
Consensus now will be pursued in healthcare’s quest for truth
“No longer will our blood be shed for standards to be set
We’ll gather round and talk until a compromise is met”

So now you know just how we formed the NCPDP
And how this modern standards settin’ process came to be
And after endless hours of meetings why my eyes will glaze
I’m dreamin’ ’bout how things got done back in those glory days when…

REPEAT CHORUS

Words by Ross Martin
Music by Eric Schwartz and Ross Martin
Lead vocals: Ross Martin
Background vocals: Ross Martin and Eric Schwartz
All instruments and sequencing: Eric Schwartz
Produced and engineered by Eric Schwartz, Claritone Music
Special thanks to Kevin So

United, We Stand - Reimagining an Anthem for Our Nation

A couple of weekends ago, PRI’s Studio 360 asked listeners to think about updating a couple of our traditional icons as we approach our annual 4th of July celebrations. One was Uncle Sam – what would a “mascot” for our nation look like today? The other, our National Anthem (which, according to one pole, 27% of Americans believe has a last line of “And the home of the brave… Play Ball!”).

I personally like our National Anthem a lot – it is a beautiful song with brave and poetic lyrics. But it is undeniably a challenge to sing for all but the upper tier of vocalists, with its greater than 1½-octave range (for perspective, Madonna never sings anything with more than a one-octave range, not that this is a shining example, but I hear she has made some money as a singer).

So last weekend, I posted a reimagining of the National Anthem in response to the Studio 360 challenge based on some Infinite Poetry® I wrote after 9/11. Let me know what you think… The song and a quickly assembled video are posted on YouTube:



It’s a simple song with only five lines that intuitively cycle back on themselves, so they are easy to remember:

…United, We Stand
Standing, We Rise
Rising, We Soar
Soaring, We’re Free
Free, We Unite
United, We Stand…

The simplicity of the song makes it easy to add parts, variations on the theme and personal interpretations—which reflects, to me, the bedrock of what makes our nation such a compelling and inspirational place: simple principles that allow for diversity and creative growth to live in harmony.

If you like it, please vote for it (you may have to join the group to vote). You can also leave a comment or “like” the video (you will need a Google or YouTube account).

Thanks for taking a look. If my submission is one of their favorites, it will be mentioned on the show this holiday weekend. Fame and fortune are sure to follow, so my future is in your hands...

;-)

Happy 4th!

David & Goliath on YouTube

GreenPaperMonster's posting of my March 1st debut of The Meaningful Yoose Rap at the HIStalk Reception at HIMSS broke the 1000 view mark on YouTube in the last 24 hours Click here for the video and here for the lyrics.

For perspective, while that may not seem like many when comparing it to something like the 5million+ views of the Old Spice “I’m on a horse” commercial (a work of pure marketing genius in my view), the rap is a bestseller in HIT-land. We HIT aficionados are all so deeply immersed in the details of meaningful use and EHR adoption and HIT news of the day fills our inboxes--it seems surprising when we lift our heads and see that the rest of the world is thinking of a thousand other things.

But in our little world, when looking at all the other HIMSS-related videos, no other 2010 video comes even close. And only two videos from any year surpass it--a Cisco video from 2008 (1100 views) that looks like it had all of its employees watch it (lots of links from Cisco sites) and Eric Schmidt’s 2008 keynote (73k hits), but how can you really compete with Google when they… well, they’re Google…

That’s pretty cool when you think about it… I love that little more than some clever thinking and a grainy video clip can still run circles around the marketing machines of all the behemoths on the HIMSS exhibit hall floor.

Meaningful Yoose Rap

Maybe I'll finally get around to posting stuff on the Medical Informatimusicology blog. Here's one...
http://informatimusicology.blogspot.com/

HITECH: An Interoperetta in Three Acts

The American College of Medical Informatimusicology is pleased to bring you an original work written and performed by ACMI's founding member, Dr. Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA, FACMI:

HITECH

An Interoperetta in Three Acts

Who knew you could learn so much about the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act in under four minutes?

The Story Behind the Song

I had been thinking about writing a song for HITSP, CCHIT and AHIC for a couple of years, figuring it was time to tie a bow around the four other standards songs I've written - for NCPDP ("The Legend of Bob the DERF" - country & western tune about the standards-setting gunslingers of old), HL7 ("The Patient is Waiting" - a rock ballad), MedBiquitous ("The MedBiq Song" - a la Gilbert and Sullivan) and X12 ("The X12 Song" - R&B pop tune). All these songs are available on my MP3 page.

The inspiration for structure of the song, though, is actually about 20 years old. A classmate from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Dr. John Weigand, did a brilliant skit at our annual student talent show, sung by "The Weigand Trio," about his med school experience. It was three songs in one, just like this one; John used cassette recorders to "perform" the three parts at once. It was hysterical. So when it came time to write a song about three components of harmonizing standards, his idea seemed the perfect vehicle. I hadn't spoken to John since med school, so I looked him up on Google, emailed to make sure this was his original idea (it was) and make sure he was okay with me borrowing it (he was).

I wrote HITECH during a quick family vacation in Florida - mostly on the plane rides - back in March. Kym and Taylor are quite happy it's done so they don't have to listen to me running through the same 35-second song over and over again.This was probably one of the most complex songs I've ever written. Each verse had to layer on top of the other, syllable by syllable. Usually, I write lyrics in a little notebook, scratching out lines and words until it's just right. This one was just too difficult to write a verse at a time, so I had to literally do it on a spreadsheet so I could get it all to line up properly. I snapped a picture of it:

Writing the song turned out to be the easy part. The recording was done on a Zoom H2 (what a great little multi-track recorder!). Since HITECH at Deloitte is keeping me busy more than full time in "real life" work, I did most of the recording, videotaping and editing in the wee hours (just like I'm writing this blog post - after 1am). I did the audio editing using Audacity, the elegant and simple open source multi-track software tool, and the video editing with PowerDirector, the software that came with my JVC Everio, a good-enough camcorder. It was the editing that took forever - getting the timing just right, adding the scrolling captions, editing the audio so everything was balanced and the "sound effects" came out reasonably believable.
In the end, there were a dozen things I would want to do better - especially on the vocals front, but I just didn't want to spend any more time than I absolutely had to to get a decent result. So it is what it is and I hope you enjoy the video. Please let me know what you think - either by posting a comment here or on YouTube or by sending me an email. And if you need some real, serious work done around HITECH, my colleagues and I at Deloitte Consulting would be happy to help. Just send the Deloitte HITECH Response Team an email.


Who links to my website?

Taylor's 2009 New Year's Card

Taylor's 2009 New Year's Card

Oh-Eight is a wrap -- and I say Good Riddance!
Dad's 401(k) is now worth a mere pittance
The stock market's tanking; our future looks dark
Our country's transmission seems locked up in Park
I'm feeling most pensive and now as I ponder
The future, I see all the warnings and wonder
If my generation will be the last one
To have childhoods loaded with laughter and fun

But then I remember -- a New Dawn is near
It heralds the triumph of Hope over Fear
Our nation decided to Change its direction
By checking "Obama" in last year's election
Even before he's been sworn in, it's clear
We're returning to principles we once held dear
We now have the green light to lead many nations
From a place of True Strength that eschews isolation

But enough with political pontificating
The New Year is here and it's worth celebrating!
Forget the bad news -- things will turn out just fine
And I have Big Plans for Two Thousand and Nine
Like making more movies on Daddy's old Mac
And adding new lines to our Christmas train track
I'm building inventions with solder and saw
And working toward earning my black belt -- Hai-YAH!

My folks are both making their own big plans too
Dad's joining Deloitte on their consulting crew
Mom the "Nutritioner" makes meals a treat
And counsels her clients on good foods to eat
They're P90X-ing and getting real buff
And love ballroom dancing and other fun stuff
There's much more to tell you before this poem ends
But it's done -- HAPPY NEW YEAR
Dear Loved Ones and Friends!
Click the links for Taylor's New Year's reflections of yore:
2007
2006
2003
2002

The MedBiq Song

The MedBiq Song

Last night, I briefly performed at the 2006 Annual Conference of the MedBiquitous Consortium in Baltimore, MD. MedBiq is a standards development organization whose mission is to create a technology blueprint for professional healthcare education. I been serving on their Executive Committee for a few years, so when they found out that I had written a song for NCPDP's annual conference last year called "The Legend of Bob the DERF", they felt a little neglected. So I promised them a song too. (HL7 made the same request for their meeting coming up in September. At this rate, I figure I'll be able to put out a new CD - "Dr. Martin Does the Standards" - in a year or two.)

Here's the way I introduced the song and the lyrics. You can find a copy of the MP3 here.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed an honor and a privilege to stand before you today and offer up this little ditty – a trifle, really. I recall with delight the day our own Dr. Peter Greene requested that I pen a musical work worthy of the institution that bears the name MedBiquitous.

MedBiquitous! Why, one requires a graduate degree to simply utter the word! No doubt, a banal pop song or a hippie folk tune or – God forbid! – a Country Western ballad would never suffice. For MedBiquitous was not slapped together by coin-counting merchants in the back alley of commerce – or hacked by pocket protector donning computer geeks locked deep in the fluorescently lit bowels of some faceless monolith – no! MedBiquitous was conceived in the hallowed halls of academia – even more, within the dome of Johns Hopkins University itself.

Clearly, there is but one musical genre sophisticated – yet playful – enough to satisfy the need of an institution of such noble birth and regal bearing – the operetta!

So I do hope that Masters Gilbert and Sullivan are shining down on us now as we present to you the world premier of “The MedBiq Song”. Maestro, if you please…

The MedBiq Song
(To the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” by Gilbert and Sullivan)

If you want quality in CME activities to demonstrate
Or virtual reality for surgery to simulate
Or methods for ensuring that your Med Ed content's shareable
You'll find that there are many ways to do this that are terrible

If you need messages for transferring credentials proving licensure
Or means for tracking competence in ways you've never done before
Before you write me off and say this guy is just a dumb buffoon
Keep listening – I promise that you'll have your answer very soon

If you are posting all your healthcare publications on the Internet
But find that, when you search for them on Google, crap is all you get
Don't give up hope or sing the blues
Don't hang yourself or make a fuss
You'll be a hero if you use
Our standards from MedBiquitous

Yes, we have SCORM and LOM and XML and RSS as well as MEMS
And several more ridiculously complicated acronyms
That seem to have the solitary purpose of confusing you
Or making me seem smarter than the people I am singing to

But what we really seek are fundamental changes in the quality
Of everything related to all Med Ed methodology
We do this out of altruistic duty to posterity
(Though making loads of money in the process would be fine with me)

So if I've managed to persuade you or have piqued your curiosity
Please take to time to analyze MedBiquitous more carefully
And hurry down to Baltimore
Where all this stuff is happening
Whatever Med Ed has in store
You'll find our standards just the thing

Our task is great – we cannot do
This work alone, so join with us
Or kindy make a check out to
The order of MedBiquitous

© 2006 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
15 January 2006

The Earth is the Sky

The Earth is the Sky
(a song for Earth Day 2006)

The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky
Gaze into her deeply - she tells you no lie
The Earth is the Sky
The Earth is the Sky

The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sea
All life flows out and returns faithfully
The Earth is the Sea
The Earth is the Sea

The Earth is the Sun
The Earth is the Sun
Her core warms us all and her warmth makes us one
The Earth is the Sun

The Earth is the Earth
The Earth is the Earth
Sun Sea and Sky can't replace all her worth
The Earth is the Earth

The Earth is the Earth is the Earth is the Earth is the Earth IS

(c)2006 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA
Earth Day 2006

Allow me to introduce you to "The Legend of Bob the DERF" - Catchy title, I know. But if you know what a DERF is (psst - it's a Data Element Request Form - the thing that is used by NCPDP (The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs - an ANSI (American National Standards Institute - they create standards for SDOs (Standards Development Organizations - the groups that make standards for things like how many threads are there on a fire hydrant intake valve or how do you send an electronic prescription message)) accredited SDO based in Scottsdale, AZ) to change their standards), you'll think this song is big fun. Otherwise, if you've ever done standards development work, you'll think it's amusing. Otherwise, if you're a fan of country western music, you'll say, "It has a good beat and I can dance to it - I'll give it an 86." Otherwise, you'll probably just scratch your head.

Anyway, I wrote this song for the NCPDP's annual conference and performed it in Phoenix, AZ. It was a big hit. But then, we're an odd bunch of folks, so I'm not sure you kids'll be hearing it on American Bandstand anytime soon.

Special thanks to Lee Ann Stember, President of NCPDP, for financing the recording of this song. The lovely and talented Eric Schwartz is responsible for any production value, instrumentation and decent background vocals you may hear. Samples of his work can be found at http://www.ericschwartz.com/. CAUTION! Eric has a tendency to use his awesome creative powers for evil – or at least a sort of mischief that tends toward the perverse. Those with sensitive dispositions should refrain from visiting this site. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

One disclaimer: This song is a work of fiction. Any similarities of the characters portrayed in this recording to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin’ fer a fight. (Got that Bob and Margaret?)
Download MP3

Way back a hunert years ago
In a desert land devoid of snow’
Fore Scottsdale started dottin’ any maps
Snake Oil Salesmen roamed the West
Pitchin’ potions from their treasure chests
And shaftin’ any sucker wearin’ chaps

There was one man who had a dream’
Bout raisin’ druggists’ self esteem
By protectin’ the apothecary’s turf
He saw that standards were the key
For improvin’ drugstore quality
That man was known by all as Bob the DERF

Now any tale worth bein’ told
Includes a woman, guns or gold
Our hero’s rival ponied up all three
Margaret was her given name
But winnin’ gunfights brought her fame
So the name “The Whacker” fit her to a tee
And ev’rytime The Whacker flashed her gold incisor in a grin
The undertaker knew he’d soon be callin’ next of kin

CHORUS:
Hoo-ee ’n’ Yippee-ki-ee
Before the NCPDP
Consensus was a notion seldom found
Hoo-ah ’n’ Yippee-ki-yaw
The fastest shot laid down the law
The other laid down six feet underground

Now The Whacker had her standards too
And had in mind just what to do
To make sure things got done by her own rule
She called on Bob the DERF and said,
“You lily-livered pudd’nhead
It’s my way or the highway, ya’ dang fool!”

She knew her taunts would be enough
To razz him so he’d call her bluff
He slammed his whiskey down as if on cue
“Well we’ll just see ’bout who’ll be number one
High noon, tomorrow – bring your gun
But I’d skip town tonight if I was you!”

The bookies laid odds eight-to-five
The Whacker’d make it through alive
Her dead-eye aim was known throughout the land
It’s true that Margaret had her chance
But once they started in to dance
The DERF felt sure he’d be the last to stand
And so they set the stage to see whose standards would prevail
One slinger’d see sweet victory – and one the gates of Hell

REPEAT CHORUS
The clock struck twelve – the wind was still
Too scared to see red rivers spill
And learn who’d bite the dust who’d survive
The two stepped out into the street
To face their fate at fifty feet
Then in a flash their pistols came alive

Bob the DERF’s resolve came through
His steady hand shot straight and true
A normal foe no doubt would have been dead
But one fact he failed to calculate –The Whacker stood at four-foot-eight
And so her Stetson flew clean off her head

The DERF’s luck went from bad to worse
Didn’t even have a chance to curse
As The Whacker’s dental work gleamed through her smile
Her single shot was on the mark
It pierced his heart – the sky went dark
Right there he fell into a bloody pile
And as he died, The Whacker cried, “Oh, help me, Lord above!
All in the name of standards, I’ve just killed my one true love!”

REPEAT CHORUS
She lay her pistol down and swore upon her golden tooth
Consensus now will be pursued in healthcare’s quest for truth
“No longer will our blood be shed for standards to be setWe’ll gather round and talk until a compromise is met”
So now you know just how we formed the NCPDP
And how this modern standards settin’ process came to be
And after endless hours of meetings why my eyes will glaze
I’m dreamin’ ’bout how things got done back in those glory days when…

REPEAT CHORUS

– © 2005 Ross D. Martin, MD, MHA

Live Poet's Anxiety

Bob Edwards told us on NPR's Morning Edition today that a report published in the Journal of Death Studies says that poets die younger than novelists, playwrights and other writers. Click here for the story. The study's author, James Kaufman, speculates that the cause may be the poet's tendancy to be more tortured and therefore prone to self destruction. Au Contraire!

Live Poet’s Anxiety

Pray tell, if you will, for my mind cannot know it –
What leads to the early demise of the poet?
Enlighten my heavy heart, shackled in strife
Why penning pentameter shortens one’s life
The novelist, dolling out drivel in droves
Lives longer – thus happier, one must suppose
The dire statistics give proof to no reason
For sentencing bards to a much-shortened season
Too easy a knee-jerk to point to depression
The answer may be closer kin to recession
For poets may toil for days on one verse
While Harlequins fly off the shelves – How perverse!
Sadness may serve as the Grim Reaper’s alibi
Truth, though, is found in the cold math of ROI
Poets find life far too costly to cherish
Thus proving the old adage – Publish or Perish!

In terse prose: Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy Zoloft…

Wrote this yesterday...

Took a little trip to see the doctor today
Found out on an ultrasound what Taylor would weigh
Seems the little guy comes in at NINE POUNDS PLUS!
The doctor shook her head and said "It's baby or bust"
We're headin' to the hospital to get a little potion
When applied a certain way evokes some cervical motion
And then the next morning, we'll try for a day
To see if we can birth him in the usual way
If that's a no-go, then we've got a plan B
He'll make his escape through a little surgery
Assuming that tomorrow is the day his life is startin'
Irish eyes will shine on Mr. Taylor Jay O'Martin

Now we're heading to the hospital. Life will never be the same...

In keeping with what is now a two-year Christmas tradition, I wrote Kym a poem, a la Dr. Seuss, that is an extension of one of Kym’s favorites, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Pretty much sums up the year we've had...

Oh, the year we have had! with its jostles and bumps
We’ve been high on the Rooftops! And down in the Dumps
Just when we thought that our future was clear
We’d turn ‘round a corner and Change would appear
With his old pal Uncertainty one step behind
All the This-Way-Then-That-Ways became quite a Grind!

Just writing a poem about this year’s events
Creates quite a story that’s rather intense!
We started the year with the Best New Year’s Yet
I popped the question and you said, “You Bet!”
We partied all night at a Y2K ball
And, according to F.J., your gown beat them all!

We moved you to Boston to start a new life
And prepare for the day we’d be Husband and Wife
But our hopes for the future were dashed when we learned
That your Hodgkin’s, so long in remission, returned
For two weeks we viewed your prognosis with terror
When finally we found that the test was in error!

A lesson emerged from that troubling event
Each day must be lived to its fullest extent
We made a decision on that very day
That we should get hitched without further delay!
A few short months later we flew to Hawai’i
And, witnessed by loved ones, were wed on Kaua’i
But wait! That’s not all that occurred on that day!
For that very same night we conceived Taylor Jay!

Talk about Changes! These DINKs ‘til their day’s end
Were suddenly thinking of Pampers and Playpens!
And Sippy-Cups! Strollers! Au Pairs and Papooses!
Barneys and Pokémons! Potters and Seusses!
Our image of just you and me quickly faded
We “Saabed” on that fateful day Cloe got traded
But no doubt, this all will be worth all the Fuss
The day we see Taylor’s eyes looking at us

There’s just not the room to depict all our plans
Of Start-Ups that didn’t and Möbius Bands
Of Legal Frustrations and Selling Sensations!
Of New Jobs and Old Saabs and Small Tribulations
And next year – Look Out! We’re just getting started!
We may move from Boston to places uncharted

But one thing remains – be there Change or whatever
My love for you grows every day we’re together
And one other thing remains Certain, my wife –
I still cherish the night you danced into my life

And last year’s poem…

Oh, the places We’ll go! With hopes flying high
We’ll soar through the air! Our limit, the sky!
Except when you fall and Deep Troubles brew
But when life is its darkest I’ll be there for you
And wouldn’t you know it? The opposite’s true!
When I’m in the Pickle you’ll bail me out too!
For life is just Grand! Despite the Rough Parts
And life’s even better when shared as Sweethearts
So here’s to the Journey! And our yet-revealed Fate
I’m honored to walk the unknown as your Mate
And as we go forward as Husband and Wife
I’ll cherish the night you danced into my life