DIAGNOSTICS | Kristine Crane

Yours are in clusters, says the doctor, 
in accented English, and I want to stay 
in that accent. And the clusters
take me back to Italy, to clusters 
of grapes right before they’re picked 
from the vine, and crushed into wine
that spills through stony streets
like blood through the body.

Kristine Crane is a writer and writing instructor at the University of Florida, where some of her courses focus on the medical humanities. Formerly an award-winning health journalist, she was patient advice reporter for U.S. News & World Report. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Pacific University, an MA in science reporting from the Columbia School of Journalism, and a doctorate in communications from the University of Florida. Her poems and essays have appeared in The Examined Life Journal, the Florida Review and Beautiful Things.

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