Color-Coding

I laid it on thick

In anticipation of The Big One

Yellow for mnemonics

Green for definitions

Underlines to guide my eye

In pink, blue, and purple

Slashes to mark exceptions

Four hundred pages filled

With colorful annotations:

My designer tool

for study

Hours, days, weeks—My life

Poured out into a reference guide

Marked

With creativity

And discipline

This body of work,

Both testament and teacher

As I made ready to prove

My mettle

Facing patients’ frailties

And diagnosing their diseases

The day had come.

8 hours

of Examination

Now was Nirvana:

I was well-prepared.