Saturday in CinCity

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The Surgeon

by Alicia Suskin Ostriker

I was still a kid
interning at State
he reminisces late in the meal—
It was a young red-headed woman
looked like my sister
when the lines went flat
I fell apart
shook
like a car with a broken axle
Went to the head surgeon
a fatherly man
Boy, he said, you got to fill a graveyard
before you know this business
and you just did row one, plot one.

Comments

  1. aimsNovember 28, 2009 at 8:50 AM

    Oh! Oh my.

    ReplyDelete
  2. English RiderNovember 28, 2009 at 9:21 AM

    The dark sense of humor comes with the job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OwenNovember 28, 2009 at 2:12 PM

    An intense piece, the weight of the burden of life and death in one's hands must be heavy indeed...

    Love your new header image...

    ReplyDelete
  4. RoseNovember 28, 2009 at 8:13 PM

    Hey, I've had to block access to my blog due to a crazy ex-husband. Please email me at knitblogger@cox.net so I can add you to the authorized list.
    Thanks,
    Rose

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownNovember 29, 2009 at 2:35 PM

    Whoa...so much truth...thank you..

    ReplyDelete
  6. SilliyakDecember 1, 2009 at 7:52 PM

    I pulled a dead guy out of a car wreck that looked a lot like my dad once. Can you say CIS Debriefing? I was normally one of the debriefers and everybody kept asking ME if I needed it. I was just trying to hold it together long enough to go off duty...

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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