Scenes from Ann Arbor
Women's Hospital 0600 After hours of torment, in a great gush of blood, A child is born. The pain, the cursing, the ripping of flesh Become Insignificant As the mother holds her babe. She coos, croons, caresses. The father holds them both, Smiling tremulously, Eyes shining with unshed tears, And reaches out a massive finger, To touch his daughter's tiny hand.
Burn Unit 0900 The tiny burned baby lies screaming. The nurse hovers over him, cooing. She reaches out a gentle hand to touch A downy cheek, Soft as a kitten's fur. But she cannot hold him against her heart, And the baby screams on.
MICU 1400 With alarms shrieking and monitors shrilling, A man dies. A tidal wave converges to his body, Pagers blaring, Charging footsteps echoing in the long hallways. The flash of bright needles, The violence of compression (Can you hear the ribs breaking?) The arching of a body under electric current, The Defeat of Death. An hour later he dies again, permanently.
SICU 1600 Under dim lights There is an indecipherable, still shape Hidden by the stark white blanket. Innumerable tubes snake into it, Into every natural and manmade orifice. These tubes maintain and regulate life. Monitors trace their patterns In bright neon green on black screens. There is no sound or movement But that of machine. Yet a lovely brown high arched foot sticks out, With pink painted toe nails.
HemOnc Dusk The Doctor leans forehead first into the wall. His body shudders as he silently weeps. Inside the room the death watch drags on. She is eighteen. Only eighteen. For two weeks she has cried, begged, Screamed For the pain to stop, As the infections wrack her enfeebled body. Her body wasted,weak, failing, Lips bloated from the systemic fungus infection, In the war against leukemia NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING Helped. Outside, through the window, Far above, the first star shines. Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I see tonight- I wish I may I wish I might- Can my daughter die tonight? An ominous stillness claims her that day. Her parents hold her for eternal hours As she finally slowly slips from life. And in the hallway, a doctor weeps. ******************************************************
Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell <i></i>
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