Medicine
An emergency medical technician for 12 years, Yvonne Estrada currently works as an ambulance driver for the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Authority. "I have always written poems, and my job naturally presents adventures and situations that need to be written about, stories that need to be told," she says. Ms. Estrada reads the following poem (which was first published in Pulse Magazine) and others at http://www.guerrillareads.com/ (she's No. 8).
**
JOHNNY DOE
Policemen pose like plastic toy soldiers,
point rifle barrels in every direction,
ghetto bird's spotlight glints off helmets.
Ambulance allowed across yellow tape,
diesel engine grinds up the sharp grade.
In no moon you glow fish white belly up,
streetlamp casts mottled shadows,
your blood a preschool finger painting
smeared on a sidewalk.
I am ordered to shear off your slick, soaked
jeans, to smash your chest, beat your heart
for you. Your arms extend savior-like,
needles are pounded into veins,
translucent bags held skyward
like offerings to a life-giving deity,
clear liquid bleeds in, your blood pours out,
three bullet holes versus six-minute
trip to emergency room. How old are you?
I think about my son asleep at home.
I wonder if your mother's at work.
I breathe deep, drive fast,
make the siren a prayer
too loud for your God to ignore.
- Yvonne M. Estrada
- Guest Blog: The Disabled Boat
Steve Gunther-Murphy works in IT Healthcare at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California. He's been writing poetry since the seventh grade, has had works published in a variety of magazines and poetry journals, and has given poetry readings in Hawaii,...
- Guest Blog: Depression Session
Abby Caplin, MD, MA practices mind-body medicine and counseling in San Francisco. She helps people living with chronic medical conditions to lead empowered and vibrant lives, reclaiming their wholeness despite illness (http://www.abbycaplinmd.com/). Abby...
- Life, Death, And Organ Transplantation - Part 1 Of 2
Several years ago, when I was a family medicine resident taking overnight call at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania, I was called to preside over my first - and so far, only - organ donation. A young woman had suffered an irreversible traumatic...
- Guest Blog: Cleft
Jon Neher is clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and associate director of the Valley Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program. He is editor-in-chief of the newsletter Evidence-Based Practice and a...
- Guest Blog: Thanksgiving: Visiting My Brother On The Ward
Peter Schmitt is the author of five collections of poems, including Renewing the Vows, in which the following poem (first published in the Bellevue Literary Review) appears. You can find more information at his website, http://www.schmittpoetry.com/....
Medicine
Guest Blog: Johnny Doe
An emergency medical technician for 12 years, Yvonne Estrada currently works as an ambulance driver for the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Authority. "I have always written poems, and my job naturally presents adventures and situations that need to be written about, stories that need to be told," she says. Ms. Estrada reads the following poem (which was first published in Pulse Magazine) and others at http://www.guerrillareads.com/ (she's No. 8).
**
JOHNNY DOE
Policemen pose like plastic toy soldiers,
point rifle barrels in every direction,
ghetto bird's spotlight glints off helmets.
Ambulance allowed across yellow tape,
diesel engine grinds up the sharp grade.
In no moon you glow fish white belly up,
streetlamp casts mottled shadows,
your blood a preschool finger painting
smeared on a sidewalk.
I am ordered to shear off your slick, soaked
jeans, to smash your chest, beat your heart
for you. Your arms extend savior-like,
needles are pounded into veins,
translucent bags held skyward
like offerings to a life-giving deity,
clear liquid bleeds in, your blood pours out,
three bullet holes versus six-minute
trip to emergency room. How old are you?
I think about my son asleep at home.
I wonder if your mother's at work.
I breathe deep, drive fast,
make the siren a prayer
too loud for your God to ignore.
- Yvonne M. Estrada
- Guest Blog: The Disabled Boat
Steve Gunther-Murphy works in IT Healthcare at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California. He's been writing poetry since the seventh grade, has had works published in a variety of magazines and poetry journals, and has given poetry readings in Hawaii,...
- Guest Blog: Depression Session
Abby Caplin, MD, MA practices mind-body medicine and counseling in San Francisco. She helps people living with chronic medical conditions to lead empowered and vibrant lives, reclaiming their wholeness despite illness (http://www.abbycaplinmd.com/). Abby...
- Life, Death, And Organ Transplantation - Part 1 Of 2
Several years ago, when I was a family medicine resident taking overnight call at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania, I was called to preside over my first - and so far, only - organ donation. A young woman had suffered an irreversible traumatic...
- Guest Blog: Cleft
Jon Neher is clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle and associate director of the Valley Medical Center Family Medicine Residency Program. He is editor-in-chief of the newsletter Evidence-Based Practice and a...
- Guest Blog: Thanksgiving: Visiting My Brother On The Ward
Peter Schmitt is the author of five collections of poems, including Renewing the Vows, in which the following poem (first published in the Bellevue Literary Review) appears. You can find more information at his website, http://www.schmittpoetry.com/....