CHCANYS 2023 Statewide Hybrid Advocacy Week featured an inspiring and powerful poem by M.A. Dennis during CHCANYS’ Patient Voices Panel. Listen to the poem here: https://youtu.be/7tr0zNKFpf8 and learn more about M.A. Dennis by checking out his Twitter (M_A_Dennis), Instagram (m_a_dennis575) and TikTok (madennis0).
Foreword
This poem came about by chance. On a Friday, in a Zoom meeting, while prepping for the upcoming Patient Voices Panel webinar that following Monday, everyone in attendance was having a good time (about as much as one can have in a Zoom prep meeting). We handled business of course, but then goofed around with Zoom’s new zany facial filters. At one point, I remarked that the CHCANYS acronym, when said, sounds like a fancy restaurant. At another point in the meeting, our wonderful moderator Serena Muniz asked if I would do a poem during the webinar. I agreed. Over the weekend, while down in North Carolina (attending funeral services for my Uncle Stanley), the restaurant name quip and the poem request subconsciously marinated. Monday morning, shortly before the webinar began, the poem “CHCANYS” spilled out. I performed that first draft version and a day later completed a revised version. Thank you for taking time to consume my work. Bon Appétit!
CHCANYS
M.A. Dennis
When I tell someone about CHCANYS,
they want to know about reservations:
How long is the wait for a party of five?
Because CHCANYS sounds like
a fancy 5-star restaurant
and I’m an unabashed foodie, so
they think, maybe, CHCANYS is
a hot spot, a gourmet acronym
that stands for: Cuisine Hors d’oeuvres
Cocktails Association of Nourishing
Yummy Sustenance —
but, no, CHCANYS stands for:
Community Health Care Association
of New York State (and that’s just
a mouthful way to say CHCANYS
stands for: Commitment Hope Care Acknowledgment Networking
Yolo Seize the day — or maybe
CHCANYS is more than a name,
more than an abbreviation,
more than eight letters
giving recognition to the ones
who do it all (from A to Z) CHCANYS:
Champions of Heroes Causes
Advocacy Networks You Support.
CHCANYS (not open for brunch, but
offering happy hours spent helping
the providers who help the helpless)
an amplifier of voices, a source of
empowerment, an encourager
giving much needed credit
to where it’s long overdue!
CHCANYS is a conduit
for awareness and education:
If it wasn’t for CHCANYS,
how would we know what WCS means?
I used to think it meant White Castle
Smorgasbord — sliders, fries, shakes,
a fast food feast — but now I know
WCS stands for White Coat Syndrome,
an anxiety-based affliction
born out of roach motel
hospital experiences:
seeing folks check in,
but never check out.
Maybe this is why we take time out
to appreciate and celebrate our community health centers, places of competency
and compassion,
made not of bricks
and mortar, but of people
showing concern
and offering life-saving services,
humanity-affirming services,
dignity-restoring services.
Perhaps, CHCANYS cannot
give us a date for the Grand Opening
of their Michelin-starred eatery, but
they can give props to great service
and great service can make or break
not only a restaurant
but also a collective
of sensitive
and vulnerable
individuals.
So, consider this my Yelp review,
the little squeal of joy
that escapes my mouth
when I think of CHCANYS
and the community health centers
they take time to honor
and I guess
this is where the poem ends
because: thanks to CHCANYS
my seat at the table is ready.