It's hard to explain to the world at large why nursing is so difficult. After all, it's not any one thing that is so hard it can't be done by someone with patience. Empty a urinal, take vital signs, give someone a couple pills, make a bed, write some notes, pass a meal tray, answer the phone, suction a patient, start an IV, answer a call light, insert a Foley, hang an antibiotic: anybody can do these with a little trainin...

My breath catches as it flows in and out in short pants. I can feel the tickle as the beads of sweat drip down my back, running along the curve of my spine. I have my fingers gripping the rough edges as tight as they can. Every fiber in my being wills this to be over. But alongside me is another, just as terrified as myself. She is focused; right hand right foot, left hand, left foot. Up she climbs, steady as a spring rai...

Bright pain burns my orbs, Stabs through the gray. Salt trembles to spill. Do you not think of me? “Its not fair,” I long to screech at your back, Yet I am prostrate before, Begging your return, Trembling pink pout, and aching core.My friend gone, a husk there remains, Shade of the past that was, Future hidden in that ghost. Crying from my cellar door, Seeking in the heavens your tower gate. Barred to my entreaty it remai...

Bright speck, cast against the backdrop of blue. Ascending, unconcerned of the drop that would drench all. Escaped from the cankers of life, Suspended, An updraft of support.Wax pain, Tears, Bereft of wings. Connection in wane, where we once as one stood. Bleating against the span, Your back faced to me. Numb, Shadows cast where all was sunshine. Fists beat the bar of this prison where you have cast me. Reflected injuries...

Laying on my back, soft breathy girl's cries fading into the silence that had screamed your name earlier. The branches blown against the window,beat as my heart slows its rapid cadence. My fingers still fragrant from touching;while you rode the reverberance through the hallows of my mind. Quivering muscles juxtapose the calm in my mind. The darkness soothes my purposeful blindness. Where you lay in my mind is naught but s...

I heard the door close today. A soft sigh of air pushed aside. You, home with me after all this time.The water in my bath shimmered.Droplets cascaded over out thrust breasts as I shifted, Longing to feel your touch along my flank. Did the floor creak? A pillow of rainbowed soap bubbles lathered, In swaths I scraped the surface clean. Why did I sense you here?You’d never been to this place. I could hear your voice, its sir...

A warm breeze buffets my hair and face. It first invites, then challenges a response. The breeze calls to my horse. It tugs at his mane and plays with his tail. He tosses his head and beseeches me to reply. His hooves tap impatiently at the earth. I sit still on his back; try to ignore the invitations. But yet, I am not immune to the calling. A quick, concise movement, I shift forward. My horse has his head. He bounds for...