an er nurse says:

An ER Nurse Says:
(there is no horror like my horror)

There is no horror like my horror.

Tonight a child was brought in,
clutching his teddy-bear matted in blood,
over his tummy, 
over an abdominal gunshot soaked within
his Scooby-Doo pajamas, 
where beneath a rose blooms 
deep enough to dip my pinkie.
The trauma unit responds vigorously,
and in the frenzy of survival someone tosses 
the kid’s teddy-bear into the trash.

(when he cries I think of my own.)

There is no horror like my horror.

Tonight a couple was brought in,
as the broken result from a motorcycle crash,
it took all three paramedics to pry them apart,
but it took an eighteen wheeler to tear them apart.
and when they were carried in as careful as coffins
our trauma unit responds passionately, 
but despite all our emotions,
someOne tosses 
the boyfriend’s life into the trash.

(when she cries I think of my own.)
 
There is no horror like my horror.
The only horror is my horror.

-10-17-06
M. L. Michael 

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