A Normal Day

The nurse left work At five-o-clock Followed by a midget In a floppy eared winter hat Who looked something like A small mixed breed dog Caught between a Pit Bull Terrier And a very old Mexican Chiwawa This was the way it went Every workday For the last seven years And unless you knew That all of them worked together At the county hospital You would swear That the circus was in town It was an odd arrangement As the management hired everyone Sight unseen According to their abilities Not their appearance! And in this small town This particular hospital Seemed to attract An odd conglomeration of employees From all four corners Of the world Returning home To her small cold water flat She put up a pot of hot water And as it heated Decided on a cup Of herbal lemon-grass tea Before settling into A very old lazy-boy chair Reaching over to the table She flicked the replay button On her answering machine And listened to all her messages Or should I have said All “one” of her messages “Hi Mrs. Smith” (it went on) “We have a problem With the last check you sent Could you”… A loud click sounded As she hit the erase button And the tape ran backwards Stopping with a thud at the end It was the same message She had been receiving Every day (weekends too!) For the last three months Still, there was nothing to do Work was sparse And she was told over and over How lucky she was To still be working! Totally exhausted It only took several minutes After turning the TV on Before she fell off Into a sound peaceful sleep Only to be jarred awake By the shrill sound Of her alarm clock A quick shower A change of clothes And a microwave breakfast later With very little On her mind She was out the door And walking to the hospital It took about ten minutes For her to arrive at the ER Where she greeted the guard With a sleepy morning hello As I watched her walk in Followed by a midget In a floppy eared winter hat Who looked something like A small mixed breed dog Caught between a Pit Bull Terrier And a very old Mexican Chiwawa