Notes About The Poem

wet-eyed

"I've seen medicine that breathes life into stone" - Shakespeare 

A wet-eyed med-student was roaming the hall earlier. She’d lost 
her mind around the half-hour mark of an oral assessment - whether from the questioning or the expression on the examiner’s face - it happens. It’s designed to happen. We must handle pressure.

On break, she’s was an absolute squirmfest of emotion - trying to look part of the linoleum and not meet anyone’s gaze. She’ll be ok, until the next professor, having a bad day, picks her apart for sport.

But tears dry fast under fluorescent lighting. I gave her a smile that tried to say ‘Come on, it was just a bad moment.’

She’ll probably go home and watch an episode of ‘the Pit’ to remind herself why she signed up for this masochism and maybe she’ll post about it with hashtags like #KillMeNow and #INailedThatRespiratoryQuestion.

By Monday the feels will have passed like bad weather and she’ll paste on a smile. Future doctors aren’t quitters. Later, she’ll laugh about it with the kind of laugh that means it’s not funny yet, and this weekend she might weaponize her trauma at some rude guy in a bar 
- it happens.
.
.
A song for this:
This Is How We Do It by Montell Jordan
Hurricane Waters by Citizen Cope
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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Parker Avatar
April 18, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Haibun looking for a Haiku.....
Fallica Avatar
April 18, 2026 at 7:28 AM
First year of nursing school I understood all the jargon on medical TV shows. Second year I understood everything they got wrong. First season of ‘The PITT’, I was jonesing for my stethoscope and REALLY missed the job. Second season, I wondered how the hell did I ever do that job! / Our RN class still hold a covenant of support for each other and that was over two decades ago. / <3
Vionet Avatar
April 18, 2026 at 9:00 AM
We just finished season 2 (PiTT). Does it encourage me? I'm not sure. I get about half the jargon. I'm not sure I'd want that grind, day in, day out. I want to smell some roses. Grandmère would like me to slip in under her corporate umbrella, working for her handling her philanthropic efforts. She makes a case for helping way more people (with less stress) - it's an idea.
Rodrigues Avatar
April 18, 2026 at 6:58 AM
Enjoyed the read! Her stick to it attitude will fare well for her.
Vionet Avatar
April 18, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Yeah, we all have to 'toughen up' ??
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