These were for a class a while ago and I'm thinking of finishing the "book". There's more to it, but I didn't want to post the whole thing. Thanks! Any criticism helps.
July 1, 2009
They tell me
go to school
be a doctor
heal the wounded.
But I wanted
to be a writer
no no no
But really –
what I know they’re saying is;
be a doctor
make us money
and besides-
what would our friends say if we told them
our son
was just
a writer?
July 2, 2009
Ms. Murray says –
my hands are too delicate
to be a doctor’s
“Do you play piano?
because your hands are perfect
for a piano.”
Ms. Murray is my patient
she is my favorite.
I just told her
I need to amputate
her feet.
July 3, 2009
The human body
has so much blood.
She came in today
with her arms sliced open.
please don’t try
and kill yourself –
it only makes
my job harder.
July 4, 2009
She’s a doctor
for tiny babies
with tiny toes
and tiny hearts.
She doesn’t know yet
that my “good morning”
means “I love you”
and she doesn’t know yet
how my heart races
when she’s around.
I’m not sure she knows
what my name is.
Yet.
July 5, 2009
All I hear is beeping
when I sleep – beeping
your pulse – beeping
though sometimes
the melodic
and trustly timely
Beeping
goes faster,
Faster
until it’s just one
long
Beep
then sobbing silence.
July 6, 2009
I saw her today –
after surgery
she had stumps
not feet.
You could see the wound
through bandages
We didn’t speak
about pianos.
We didn’t speak
at all.
July 7, 2009
There was a doctor in Germany
he was young
and this was a
long,
long time ago.
He noticed that mommies and babies
were dying,
but only in the hospitals.
Concerned,
he watched
as doctors walked
from morgue
to mommy
not washing their hands.
He tried to explain
to the doctors
but they only laughed at him.
This hurt the doctor’s feelings.
So he decided, in the morgue
to take a scalpel
dirty from a fresh body
and cut himself
in the hand.
Knowingly,
he died
3 hours later.
July 8, 2009
I have a problem.
you see –
I’m in love
that’s a diagnosis.
What’s the cure?
A voyeur –
i watch you
move across the room
and I beg
for a passing brush
of your arm
against mine.
July 10, 2009
I’m in debt
for this.
I owe people money
because
I went to school
for 8 years
in order to
tell people they’re dying
so I could
get puked on
and shat on.
And the worst thing is;
I have to keep working
at this job
so I can pay back
these people.
And then what?
Doctors
don’t get the luxury
of a career change.
July 1, 2009
They tell me
go to school
be a doctor
heal the wounded.
But I wanted
to be a writer
no no no
But really –
what I know they’re saying is;
be a doctor
make us money
and besides-
what would our friends say if we told them
our son
was just
a writer?
July 2, 2009
Ms. Murray says –
my hands are too delicate
to be a doctor’s
“Do you play piano?
because your hands are perfect
for a piano.”
Ms. Murray is my patient
she is my favorite.
I just told her
I need to amputate
her feet.
July 3, 2009
The human body
has so much blood.
She came in today
with her arms sliced open.
please don’t try
and kill yourself –
it only makes
my job harder.
July 4, 2009
She’s a doctor
for tiny babies
with tiny toes
and tiny hearts.
She doesn’t know yet
that my “good morning”
means “I love you”
and she doesn’t know yet
how my heart races
when she’s around.
I’m not sure she knows
what my name is.
Yet.
July 5, 2009
All I hear is beeping
when I sleep – beeping
your pulse – beeping
though sometimes
the melodic
and trustly timely
Beeping
goes faster,
Faster
until it’s just one
long
Beep
then sobbing silence.
July 6, 2009
I saw her today –
after surgery
she had stumps
not feet.
You could see the wound
through bandages
We didn’t speak
about pianos.
We didn’t speak
at all.
July 7, 2009
There was a doctor in Germany
he was young
and this was a
long,
long time ago.
He noticed that mommies and babies
were dying,
but only in the hospitals.
Concerned,
he watched
as doctors walked
from morgue
to mommy
not washing their hands.
He tried to explain
to the doctors
but they only laughed at him.
This hurt the doctor’s feelings.
So he decided, in the morgue
to take a scalpel
dirty from a fresh body
and cut himself
in the hand.
Knowingly,
he died
3 hours later.
July 8, 2009
I have a problem.
you see –
I’m in love
that’s a diagnosis.
What’s the cure?
A voyeur –
i watch you
move across the room
and I beg
for a passing brush
of your arm
against mine.
July 10, 2009
I’m in debt
for this.
I owe people money
because
I went to school
for 8 years
in order to
tell people they’re dying
so I could
get puked on
and shat on.
And the worst thing is;
I have to keep working
at this job
so I can pay back
these people.
And then what?
Doctors
don’t get the luxury
of a career change.