Optometry is no laughing matter. Or is it?
In “Optopoetry: Poems and Drawings for the Eye Care Crowd,” Jonathan Jacesko, PCO class of 2017, has written a collection of humorous poems that every optometrist or optometry student can relate to. These poems are paired with illustrations in the style of Shel Silverstein, created by fellow optometry students Leanne Laporte (PCO 2017), Jenny Krech (PCO 2017), Shane Stevens (NECO 2018), Cheryl Duong (SCCO 2018), Alice Lim (PCO 2018), and Brad Urlik (WUCO 2019).
“Optopoetry: Poems and Drawings for the Eye Care Crowd” will contain poems about all aspects of optometry, from refraction and HIPAA compliance to optical woes and no-show patients. Fans of Shel Silverstein will love “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take Her Contacts Out,” and other humorous poems like “The Never-Ending Refraction,” and “The HIPAA Hippopotamus,” along with the slightly risqué “Where Do All the No-Shows Go?” and “Eye School Lovers.”
If you want to see a preview of the book, there is a video available on Vimeo, where the poem “Color Vision” is read aloud. You can also check out the Facebook page and the website (where you can enter your e-mail to be notified when Optopoetry is available for pre-order).
“Optopoetry: Poems and Drawings for the Eye Care Crowd” was the subject of a new episode of The OptometryStudents.com Podcast. In the episode, our editor Peter Jacques interviews Jonathan Jacesko and Shane Stevens about their experiences and motivations in writing the book, and what the next steps are for publication. You can check out the episode here:
[youtube_sc url=”https://youtu.be/XyHggdiPjEs” title=”The%20OptometryStudents.com%20Podcast%20-%20Episode%20#1″ color=”white”]
There is an Indiegogo page set up for “Optopoetry: Poems and Drawings for the Eye Care Crowd” here, and funds will go towards the publication of the book, along with student and other optometric charities. Publication is set for the fall, and orders will be shipping for the winter holiday season. “Optopoetry: Poems and Drawings for the Eye Care Crowd” will make a great gift for any optometrist or optometry student.
**UPDATE** 01/01/2017
Now that the Indiegogo campaign is over for Optopoetry, you can either go to optopoetry.com website or the book listing on Amazon. Out of the collected proceeds the author donated $75 to the Kelly Morse Medical Fund, $75 to the “Mary’s Miracles” CureSearch Cancer Walk Team, and $52 to InfantSEE. That’s a grand total of $202.0 (like 20/20, of course). The author hopes to keep donating to various causes as long copies of Optopoetry are still being sold.
