Poem 1

Just fair notice to everyone, I long ago adopted Emily Dickinson’s take on poems by not titling anything I write, so for sake of cataloging, I’ll simply title them numerically.

Alert, oriented times zero

Don’t worry, I can still be

Your healthcare hero

With nicotine on my gums

And Monster in my veins

I am amped for the night

And always scrapping

For a fight

(Oh pharmacy, why won’t they send meds to me?!?)

Of course I had plenty of sleep

Minus the interruptions

From the county testing

Their emergency sirens

Oh you say I look tired?

Accurate observation

I’m on shift three of three and my

Kids kept playing and screaming, and

All I heard were alarms and dings

While I was dreaming

I leave the med room and half the time

I forget what pills these are

(Wish they could be mine…)

So I sling the meds, knocking this ball outta sight

Assess, educate, document

Point, click, click, click

That’s what I went to school for, right?

BMH 5/15/2026