Best Nightmare

Sunday, March 13, 2022

This means war, blues versus red.

No guns, less germs,

But plenty of steel.

 

There will be blood, I fear.

Drip, drip, drip,

Sweat rolling from my chinny chin chin.

 

Knives out then in,

Fluids splashing from mountain to valleys.

The last cut breaches the darkness.

 

Then, the shining.

Lights surely blinding.

Tiny eyes squint in surprise.

 

There is stillness in the silence of the lamb,

‘til this new soul cries out.

So I, too, let bated breath out.

 

Quickly, skin to skin,

And heart to heart.

Time to heal Mama’s battle scar.

 

I rip off the armor, cross the field and the wreckage.

Was this the worst dream, I wonder,

Or my best nightmare?

Hannah Sans came into medical school intent on pediatrics or family medicine with no interest in doing surgery. However, her experiences in the operating room proved to be highly memorable and remain vivid even now when reflecting on rotations. Surgery — to cut into and alter the human body — struck her as the most hands-on and intimate form of medicine possible. C-sections, one portrayed here, were an especially special moment in which she felt privileged to take part.

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