Little is known about the Rubáiyát of Gomer-I-Am, a recently discovered trove of over 500 medically themed quatrains in the style of Edward FitzGerald's Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. The poems, cached in a battered metal box in the basement stacks of a major medical library, reveal glimpses of the life and thoughts of an anonymous self-described gomer—Gomer-I-Am—an aging, war-scarred, alcoholic academic. Questions abound. Are the poems memoir or fiction, private musings or intended for publication? Do we call Gomer-I-Am's rubáiyát personal catharsis or healthcare critique, malicious burlesque or ironic inquiry, empathic illumination of the illness experience or a pretentious, tasteless prank? For many, the mere idea of poetry by or about gomers begs the question, Why bother? Peruse this volume and decide for yourself.

Robert Schell is a neurologist interested in literary representations of medicine.