Poetry (nonmonetized)

Ode to a Researcher

Daily Special 19: Pick 5

Dr. Casey Lawrence
Promptly Written
Published in
2 min readNov 20, 2021

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Photo by Julia Koblitz on Unsplash

You work in isolation
away from prying eyes
to figure out the answer
to questions we devise.

Alone in ivory towers
(underfunded basement labs),
you squint at all the data
to keep us off the slab.

Every vaccine and treatment,
we have for you to thank —
(though some of you were tempted
at the thought of making bank).

Please just dismiss the outrage
from morons on the Right.
Your work is so important —
it contributes to the fight.

We will make it through this year:
hard work with no reward
other than our survival
and a chance to move forward.

Thank you Ravyne Hawke for today’s poetry prompt: “Choose at least five of the following ten words and write a poem [tempt / inappropriate / treatment / translate / sensitive / researcher / insistence / dismissal / consciousness / isolation]. You can use any tense of the verb/any form of the word. / Poetry Form — Any / Line Length — Any / Restrictions — One of the chosen words must be the title or a part of the title. It cannot be used in the body of the poem.”

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Dr. Casey Lawrence
Promptly Written

Canadian author of three LGBT YA novels. PhD from Trinity College Dublin. Check out my lists for stories by genre/type.