Ever Vigilant: Julius V. Combs, MD
August 5, 1931–April 1, 2020
Beneath Elm trees
sheltering Hazlett Street,
vigilant descendants
of enslaved wombs,
of steel-bone labor,
like religious resistance,
reimagine existence.
When a child visits
a physician,
sees a Black man
in a white coat,
and within a flash,
envisions his mission:
“I am going
to be a doctor.”
Julius commits
to covenants
as husband, father,
brother, son, friend,
and physician,
countering inequities
with a deep belief
in an oath
to sustain life,
to realize hope
for impoverished
patients surviving
dark parts of cities,
like Detroit’s
Westside,
where he became,
reflecting on the
arc of tree limbs,
supplying fresh
oxygen for lungs
and cool shade for
sizzling summer days.
Then, the consequence
of disease destroys
the Elms,
leaving empty skies
and abandoned homes
as factory closings
wound neighborhoods,
hemorrhaging like
bodily injuries.
And yet,
ever vigilant,
Julius V. Combs, MD,
continues to protect
our flesh,
to change hospital
restrictions,
to revolutionize
health care rules,
to deliver thousands
of souls at birth,
resurrecting a
legacy that defies
this contentious,
stillborn nation
that undermines
nature and
conspires to
smother a Black
child’s first gasp
for breath.
Notes:
Audio version performed by the author.
Source: Poetry (July/August 2023)