Saturday in CinCity

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. The dark sense of humor comes with the job.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Whoa...so much truth...thank you..

    ReplyDelete
  5. 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

Post a Comment

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

Popular posts from this blog

A Year with EB White

The Poet Goes to Indiana by Mary Oliver

Goldfinches by Mary Oliver