RN

I've been reading sad stories lately.
About dead moms and dying children.
Carrying these tragic tales with me
as I walk the hospital halls in my scrubs
my badge hanging next to my stethoscope
identifying me as "RN."

Perhaps it's only an attempt
to make these sick kids seem normal-
like everyone has a central line
taped to their chest
puncturing their subclavian
and a white blood cell count of one

or a CRP of fifty

But the need for IV ceftriaxone and clindamycin,
like clubbing of the fingernails or circumoral cyanosis,
is not normal.
Not everyone's tale is this tearful

not everyone is held together

with steri-strips and sutures.