Operating Room: Instruments and Poems
In this series, I have attempted to capture the beauty of the common instruments in the operating room. I have also written poems about each object.
Cautery
Cut, sever, burn,
destroy. And yet
they feed and bathe
me every night, beg
me not to leave.
Dilator
Hard as steel, I am the one
they use when vessels, ducts,
the gut, clog up. They
gently push me, pause, then push
again, not heeding groans and shrieks
of flesh that does not want to yield.And
when they pull me back, what pleases me:
(I have a plumber’s brain)
the gush of backed up stuff
flowing as it should.
Drape
In another place my job
would be to cover
antique cars, protect
the fancy sofa during the birthday party
for the five-year old, hide
the private parts. Here I cover
necks and thighs.
Expose to light
what must be cut away.
Gloves
Pleased at how I’m used, not
by some criminal so none
will know the knife
was i\n his hand.
Wish there was a way
the surgeon’s fingerprints
could be left behind
to mark indelibly
her masterwork.
Operating Room Table
They tilt me to one side
to cut out cancer
in a liver lobe.
Or they jack up my head
or drop my feet.
It all depends..
They cover me with drapes
but still the fluids
stain my frame.
I never flinch.
Retractor
Cool now
but scalded
in a pot last night
I await the hands
of one who’ll crank
me open wide
to pull and hold apart
flesh so kidney, cancers,
can be cut out.
But what I dread:
the times I’m closed
and nothing's
taken out.
Chisel
I dream of being gripped
by Michelangelo,
carving out the marble that it takes
to bring to life the lips of Mary
cradling her full-grown son.
But I’d hate
the sharpening block.
I would guess Michelangelo
would have gladly chiseled bone
instead of stone even though
when he was done no one
but God would see his work.
Gurney
I do my best
to make the ride into this place
smooth as a new paved road
and trust the pilot
halts before I crash
into a wall. I hope they've oiled my wheels
although I've found
a squeak or two
will take a mind
off of what will soon occur