Anna-leila Williams CWA 2006

Creative Writing Award Winner - 2006

Class of 2010

Anna-leila Williams is a first year doctoral student at YSN. She received a BS in biology from Clark University, an MPH from Southern Connecticut State University, and a Physician Associate degree from Yale University. She has worked with marginalized patient populations in a variety of settings and honed her skills as a clinician, educator, and researcher. She has found her home with nurse scholars at YSN.

Transcript of the Reading:

Like Lovers

I wash myself
But the smell of you
Lingers.
Like lovers
My sweat
And your sweat
Feeding one pool.
Damn you, don’t die!

One thousand one, one thousand two,
One thousand three, one thousand four,
One thousand breathe
One thousand one, one thousand two,
One thousand three, one thousand four,
One thousand breathe.

I give you all my breath,
All my strength
And you respond.
No name,
But a pulse,
A quiet, quivering thread
Beneath my fingers
For a moment, then
Like a lover
You stare at me
And see nothing.
My weary arms, moist hands
Pushing you, begging your heart to beat.
And my brow and my palms and your chest
Feed the pool
But nothing else.