I'll Ask.

    When you have impressed me, with
your selfless love,
your endless patience,
your quiet determination to be kind,
your profound calm in the face of adversity,
your devotion to peace,

I will ask you about your religion.
Only then will I wish to talk to you about it.

Tube Time

We need an airway…
No time to lose.
Fevered prep, snapping blade.
Plans B,C,and D rehearsed silently.
D is for “Dreaded”.
Drugs flow on command,
order and readback.
The body relaxes, eyelids quiver.
Slack jaw opened,
and laryngoscope slides in,
levering open tongue and throat.
Collective breath held.

Squinting eye sees mucus, blood, vomitus.
A hissing suction probe drains it out,
and the familiar landmarks appear.
The tube pushes through
slack white vocal cords.
The wire stylet is drawn out,
the balloon cuff inflates,
and the CO2 detector flashes
Success!
The bag is squeezed,
the chest rises.
And we all breathe again.