Renewal after a Long Year

by Jennifer Grant, OMS-III

A primordial pulse fills my blood,
as I gown with inherent grace.
The teenage mother writhes in pain,
and baby’s daddy waits.
Four children squeal out from behind the bed,
and I question, “A different place?”
A student, a young woman, my voice is soft,
and fades into white space.
I pull, mom pushes, and dad plays Angry Birds.
The child is coming! The miracle of birth!
Little curls, squirts of blood,
my heart expands with wonder.
Mama screams, and swears,
and damns the damn man beside her.
When alas the child cries, I press him tight,
and cry, knowing crying is absurd
in a hospital working day and night.
So young, so fragile, I’ve seen too much.
The birth of baby, to feel, is enough.

Jennifer wrote this after her OB/GYN rotation as a third year student.