Poet's Corner with Dr Matt Young

Tour leader Dr Matt Young composed this ode in honour of our Turkish agent and tour guide, Çigil Acar Eren (first name pronounced as in the name of the poem!) during the Medicine in Turkey and Greece tour (7 – 19 October 2025).

‘Chill’

There’s calmness and sincerity
With everything she brings
She’s genuine and caring
She’s treated us like kings

She’s shown to us the pride she has
For Ataturk’s grand land
She’s dazzled us with insights and
She’s helped us understand.

The nuances of history
For empires of the past
And she helped us to discover
What’s made their culture last.

She’s introduced us all to Rome,
The Ottomans and Greece
And what they did for centuries
Of endless war and peace.

She moved us all at Anzac Cove
And let us feel the hurt
That our three nations shared as one
Upon that hallowed dirt.

But most of all she showed the warmth
That Turks have in their hearts
For those who venture ‘cross the globe
From all its distant parts.

And how those guests become their sons
As Ataturk once said
And I’m just glad we’re not at war
But holidays instead!

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