Double Shift

by Jill Sharon Kimmelman

Another crazy chaotic work day looms: 24 hours

Can you do it?

perhaps...if you turn a deaf ear to the noisy chatter 

of concerns threatening to topple

every text book...fence post...memorized statistic inside your bleary mind

It's not a day for dreaming dreams and sipping coffee slowly

it's a day for getting through and under and over and out the door

Minute by minute...hour after hour 

they call out your name

hugging the corners...patients with fears

so many lost souls...riddled with grief 

red-rimmed eyes...swimming with tears

Anxious patients wait...not always patiently

pressing...re-pressing...pounding their buttons

you cannot ignore those ceaseless ringing bells 

Needy people...needing you

each one demanding something different

a break...a meal...change for the bus...a hug 

fighting against their dying...headed for heaven 

some days are just plain hell!

They need you to take them outside their confusion

and miles away from their pain

Thirteen hours to go...welcome back hero

to the frenzy...to the chaos...

to the tiny spark of someone's hope

Do they say the words aloud

or is it enough just to see thanks in their smile 

on a face that hasn't smiled in perhaps a dozen years

So many sounds...too many sounds

by day's end you are ready...more than ready for silence 

yet...when it comes...it is too quiet

you lay restless...engulfed in dark and stillness

sleep has become an unanswered prayer

You realize then...it hits you hard

you haven’t heard her voice all day

When at last you make the call

she is half asleep...her words are soft 

you clutch them to you as a prize 

finally now...you can close your eyes

You helped a few souls

you fought the good fight 

another work day fades to black 

as she enters your dreams 

beautiful in resplendent light

* * * * *

Author’s note:  written, with gratitude, while the author was a hospital patient, in appreciation, to the extraordinary first responders and her team of dedicated nurses.

Jill Sharon Kimmelman was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, in poetry, in 2017 and Best Of The Net 2018. Recent publications include, Spillwords Press, Yasou! A Celebration Of Life Ezine and Better Than Starbucks. Current publications are in the works.

She enjoys “cooking from the heart”, theatre, lively book discussions and photography. She lives in Delaware with her husband, Tim.