The Poetry of Nursing

Every now and then I think I'm going to be a super cool, deep, edgy person who reads poetry and ponders literature over tea at ultra hip coffee shops.

Then I remember that I'm a dork.

I do, however, own a book of poetry called "The Poetry of Nursing: Poems and Commentary of Leading Nurse Poets", edited by Judy Schaefer.

Honestly, it's a little too super cool, edgy, deep, and ultra hip for me.  BUT...

This poem spoke to me - I think we all have that secret place that we stow away the horrible moments we are witness to in our professional lives.

The Secret Life of Nurses - by Veneta Masson

You won't read about it in the tabloids
or inside the gaudy jacket of a Harlequin.
Dear Abby knows nothing about it.
Priests and lovers may think they do
and you
as you glimpse the tips of their shoes
stalled outside a door -
you may think you do,
but you don't.

Nurses keep a safe house hidden
in the spaciousness of imagination --
a dark kiva dug into
the sun-bleached cliff
a gracious ark
gliding high on still waters
a lavender planet idling among far stars.

They keep a safe house
and a fleet of neurons poised for flight.