She answers a
call
from someone in her care
to relieve some kind of distress.
The patient requests action,
but only caring words are remembered,
and the smile offered at the right moment.
She watches monitors
for the slightest palpitation,
ever-vigilant for lives in her hands.
She rushes to answer each call
as quickly as she can,
but rations her time for others
Although surrounded by electronics,
she answers an ancient calling,
harbored in her heart.
Sometimes the expression on a patient
tells more than all machines combined,
that look of determination,
that spark of life, and determination to live.
A student of modern medicine,
she knows its powers and limits,
and when she’s done all she can,
hands off the lives at her mercy
and hopes for greater powers.
—Mike Bayles
