Completely Bare: Uncensored PoetryDay #9: The Nurse

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Discordant alarms

Incessantly sound
Efficient squeaky soles
Fitbits overrun by miles
Caring steps, aching backs, broken hearts
Sense workers, compassionate souls
21 st -century frontline warriors.

Colour-coded manuals now on wheels
Consistency triumphs
At what cost?

Once upon a time ….

Featherlight fingertips gauged
the pulse.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 …

Conscious counting and assessing
Silent questions considered, and then posed

“Are you feeling alright”

“You are very pale”

Patient pain clocked
Subjective scales weigh
Conscious attention.

Expert care, in parallel, treats symptoms and the root

Targeted intervention
As thankful eyes relax
and breathing steadies and slows

Clenched fists release.