Sina Foroutanjazi is currently a fourth-year medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He received his bachelor’s in science in chemistry and biology from UMass Boston, where he taught and conducted research in chemistry for several years. We welcome him to our Editorial Board.
The void, the empty feeling of loss; this is perhaps what connects Ceren Ege’s “Dictum Wisdom” (Intima, Fall 2021) and “Pomegranate Protocol” (Intima, Fall 2021) above and beyond their chronological relationship.
The poems illustrate two notable events that significantly impacted the author's life; in both pieces, Ege draws on her profound grief for her late father to paint a vivid picture of her life without him. More importantly, however, Ege masterfully highlights her mother's role in filling up this void, to the point that it becomes obvious she is the heroine in her life. Ege’s mother, who, with kindness and humor—both mature mechanisms to cope with a loss—protects her children in the face of a great tragedy.
Is it fair to assume that such strength roots in her mentality and training as a surgeon, whose calm and composure under pressure is a highly praised feature of her profession? Or is it perhaps because of her motherly love, whose mission is to care for and protect her child?
Pomegranate, oh you, the one with many hearts, hidden in the safe, loving hands of your mother! What a tragedy that for her children to go free, she should be sacrificed. How similar is Ege’s mother is to this loving, red-leathered fruit? Does she try to protect herself from the bleeding pomegranate by wearing gloves because she wants to be vulnerable yet cannot tolerate hurting her children? Yes, she wants to free the rivers but is afraid of the flood.
Life goes on, and sorrow gives its place to a feeling of persistent emptiness; with her lover gone, who is there to care for the hands that cut through flesh to heal? The thickness of the hands of a mother is not only a sign of years taking care of her children but a glimpse into the cracks of a soul that moistens up with no lotion. Through these cracks, love flows into the heart of children like Ege, who learn how to live without the reassurance of a father to protect them against the harsh realities of life.
Sina Foroutanjazi is currently a fourth-year medical student at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He received his bachelor’s in science in chemistry and biology from UMass Boston, where he taught and conducted research in chemistry for several years. He was born and raised in Tehran and immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager. He is named after Ibn Sina, the famous Persian physician and polymath, whose books in medicine, law, and philosophy were taught across Europe and the Middle East for centuries. Foroutanjazi has developed a passion for medicine, education, and humanities, and has felt a great sense of satisfaction in teaching and mentoring students through their medical career. He loves to read and write poetry in Persian and English whenever he gets a chance, and hopes to use his passion for medicine and poetry to better care for his patients and mentor his students.