The Natural Order of Things by Richard Donze
Finishing Line Press, softcover, $19.99
As doctors, so poets. Physician Richard Donze’s poetry demands close attention because every word, every turn of phrase, every stanza is shaped with care and intention. With no punctuation to interrupt the flow, his lines become fluid, continuous, and inviting. The titles serve as runway lights, guiding readers into each poem with a quiet precision thatshouldn’t be overlooked; they often blend seamlessly into the first line, part of the architecture of his poems, calling for reflection.
Donze brings his lifelong work of “due no harm” to his writing. These are poems only a doctor could write: informed by long days and longer nights, by real illness, real loss, and a deep empathy for the suffering of others. In The Natural Order of Things, he offers glimpses into hospital rooms and tender insights into how medicine can fail us—not just as patients, but as parents and grandparents. As he writes, “the illusion that parents will / always be able to / protect their children and / physician-parents protect them / even better” is quietly dismantled.
At the heart of the book is a profound father-daughter connection. Also, you’ll find two long prose poems, written in narrow stanzas with repeated refrains, delve with each page deeper into the trauma of early loss—what Donze calls the experience that “turns all / common molehills into / uncommon mountains.” These sections move like a labyrinth, carrying the reader through the unspeakable, one word at a time. The effect is both mesmerizing and healing.
What sets this collection apart is its honesty in facing death, not as a dramatic end point, but as a steady companion—part of the job, part of life. There’s a soothing dignity in how Donze captures the commonplace presence of sickness and loss. His words offer comfort, not by minimizing pain, but by articulating it with precision. In so doing, he gives voice to unspeakable loss, and in that voice, we find solace.
He ends with a wish extended to readers, an earnest hope, that again, only a physician wielding a pen could piece together, lines such as, “may / our nerves keep their / coats and never / tangle or fray.” These are poems that provide access to our deepest emotions, making the personal feel universal, the tragic feel bearable, and the unseen seen.
