List by Yvette Perry, Listener Poet — The Good Listening Project

Origin Story

This new physician was looking forward to starting her OB/GYN residency. Her original goal in undergraduate school was physician assistant studies. But a series of experiences led her to consider a different path: medical school.

She approached this decision in an organized manner: she wrote out a list of “pros” and “cons,” discussing her list with her supportive family. In the end, she chose medical school, moving outside the United States – far away from the home and family which gave her sustenance – to embark on this new journey.

Going into medical school, she had a sense that she wanted to practice in women’s health. While she kept an open mind throughout medical school, the field of OB/GYN ticked off all the boxes for her: a hands-on specialty with continuity of care and in which she could help meet the healthcare needs of underserved populations, including Black women like herself. She was feeling enthusiastic about the next stage of her journey, while recognizing that she would experience many moments of growth.

Yvette Perry, Listener Poet
Amplifying Voices of Black Women Physicians in Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency Programs
Featured at Listening Together: Poems from a Year of Conversations 2025

List

By Yvette Perry, Listener Poet

The blank page called for a bold, black line
down the center, top to bottom.

On one side of the line were
Reasons For:
A different way to serve;
A way to be hands-on;
A way to live my dreams
-- and the dreams of those who
Love me...

On the other side were reasons
Against:
Moving far from Family --
the core of my being,
Being far from the place I call home...
Facing uncertainty, facing barriers,
facing fear...

But they don’t call that side of the page
“Cons” for nothing.
In the end, the words on that side of the bold, black line did
not con me into thinking I couldn’t do this:
This uncertain thing,
This hard thing,
This scary thing.

I’m writing a new List.
In coming months and years items on
this List will overflow the margins of the page and remind me of my
Reasons For.
The List will tell me I can
find communities of people who’ll help me through
(And who know what I’m going
through);
It will tie me to Family who continue to support me --
those who are now blocks away, and
those who are a Heaven away.

In this shimmering, spread-my-wings moment
I am the page,
I write the List,
I fill myself with all the things
that
Help me grow, and
Grab my soul.

More Poems & Stories

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enough

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List

While she kept an open mind throughout medical school, the field of OB/GYN ticked off all the boxes for her.

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“I always took strength from the way little kids would handle it.”

We Shall Know Her Name

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