Beyond
neighboring medical towers,
the surgeon surveys within his theater
the elixirs of healing,
bone meal, compost, soil and mulch,
his instruments of mending,
trowel, pruner, rake and
hoe,
while his supine patients,
the crimson-fevered verbena,
the jaundiced daffodils,
and pale heliotrope
wait upon a table
in rows of pliable pallets
under a sun drenched
umbrella.
The old practitioner
calmly evaluates procedures,
methodically checks the hour,
gauges the temperature.
Slowly, he flexes his gnarled fingers
around a coffee cup
and postpones surgery for a
nap.
Author Bio: Katie O'Sullivan "is late writer of poetry, essays, short stories and memoirs and one 10 minute play produced in Houston where I have lived since my husband's retirement. I received an AA degree from UCLA before our marriage and after our 7th. child was born I continued my education in Modern Near East History at the American University of Beirut, graduated and continued on a Master Degree program before we were transferred to the Netherlands. Living for 15 years in Lebanon was a beautiful and exciting experience and I spent much of those years as a volunteer at the American University Hospital. but between my family, studies and volunteerism, I didn't have time to write until we came to Houston." You may contact her at K O'S email.
