RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 “I am living in my own corpse”—the experience of tuberculosis in poems by A B Šimić JF Medical Humanities JO J Med Humanit FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 4 OP 6 DO 10.1136/jmh.2004.000188 VO 32 IS 1 A1 M-A Dürrigl A1 S Fatović-Ferenčić YR 2006 UL http://mh.bmj.com/content/32/1/4.abstract AB This paper focuses on seven poems dealing with various aspects of his experience of tuberculosis and uncovers different shades of poetic self within his verses: the notions of self transforming from a helpless child to a ghostly, transparent creature in the secluded world of a hospital ward, and to decaying flesh and “living in a cadaver” are pinpointed. Poetry as creation is the opposite of physical demise; in poetry Šimić finds escape not from the inevitable end, but from suffering. These poems are not confessions of a sick young man; they are relevant works of art touching readers’ sensitivity and imagination. They may be relevant for medical professionals in enabling them to view disease—in this case tuberculosis—in a wider context and to be open to the many and different ways in which the experience of illness can be expressed.