Poetry collection by DO explores healing, resilience

Lt. Col. Ivan Edwards, DO, has published his first book, “Resonance of the Soul: Flowers and Harmonics,” a collection of poetry that explores love, culture, resilience, healing and shared human experiences. In addition to being a published author, Dr. Edwards is also a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician who serves as a United States Air Force Reserve flight surgeon.

Dr. Edwards explains that his poetry has been shaped by years of listening to both patients and communities. Several pieces, including “Here is My Simple Story” and “Yes, I Will Arise and Walk,” were inspired by patients recovering from traumatic injuries. With each individual’s permission, he shares elements of their journeys, including their struggles and hopes. “Resonance of the Soul” has received the Literary Titan Book Award.

Along with writing his own poetry, Dr. Edwards also collaborates with the Uganda Poetry Society, providing opportunities that “reflect [his] belief that every person carries a deep story from the heart that is worth listening to.”

The Uganda Poetry Society has established the Dr. Ivan Edwards Poetry Award. For 2026, Ugandan poets of all ages are invited to submit either two-minute spoken-word videos or 500-word poems centered on the theme of unity. This annual award serves to foster Uganda’s literary talent.

“I have loved poetry since childhood,” says Dr. Edwards. “As an adult, I was inspired to publish this collection because I kept meeting people whose experiences were too deep or too fragile for ordinary language. I believed I could use poetry as a vehicle to share a shadow of those experiences.”

Dr. Edwards says that writing allows him not only to hold these stories with gentleness, but also to help others tell their own stories.

“It is a way of giving a voice to those without a voice,” he says.

The following is an excerpt from “A Makerere Student, Her Snake, Her Piper and a Doctor,” which tells the story of a patient battling mental health challenges.

A wife with hope, a mother with light,
a scholar renewed, standing upright.
The doctor’s work, a silent grace,
has returned me to a brighter place.
A place I always yearned to inhabit,
where the heart sings and the feet dance
in freedom’s orbit.

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How poetry helps me process my medical training