Hospital 1.0
I get the goo
To help with a task
I had not planned for myself.
Surely there is someone ELSE…
No.
With feelings unnamed,
No opportunity to hesitate,
I grasp the gold.
With slick fingers twisting, tugging,
I am aware of the sacredness of the moment.
Anxious not to inflict another pain,
I hold my breath
As 49 years of devotion
Remain steadfast,
Then slip off of the frozen finger.
To help with a task
I had not planned for myself.
Surely there is someone ELSE…
No.
With feelings unnamed,
No opportunity to hesitate,
I grasp the gold.
With slick fingers twisting, tugging,
I am aware of the sacredness of the moment.
Anxious not to inflict another pain,
I hold my breath
As 49 years of devotion
Remain steadfast,
Then slip off of the frozen finger.
posted by Jeanene Atkinson | 6:44 AM
13 Comments:
I don't know how you do it.
A feeling of sadness has come over me now.
yeowp!
I know you to be up to tasks you don't ask for, to accept realities that don't measure up to your expectations. What a sacred task, this.
Vividly real.
I am in the last week of CPE (as someone seeking ordination). And am feeling like I'm barely touching the tip of the iceberg regarding what I have set myself up for. Your poem speaks volumes. Thank you.
Anonymous #2,
Congratulations on surviving your CPE experience! I always tell new residents that they will never again have the luxury of being so intentional about learning about themselves and how they do ministry. I hope your experience has been all that you have needed it to be. Blessings as you disengage from navel gazing and forge ahead to the next great adventure! :)
Duh... that last comment was mine, not RLP's. I guess I should pay attention!
J
Moments like that, hard as they can be, are the ones that really stick with you (me). Some of the hardest tasks are the richest. How wonderful that you took so much care with that moment. That's one heckuva well-written little tiny story!
I am so glad to hear your voice in the blogosphere. I have read RLP off and on for the last few years and it was my introduction to blogging.
I also am a woman in ministry, married, with kids, with many tasks around me. I am looking forward to dropping by...
What a powerful peice of writing. Such a very sacred moment you have been witness to. There is nothing to say- thank you for sharing this- I am so moved and glad to add your blog to my favorites list.
I feel it.
I'm in the next to last week of CPE and I can say -- Wow.
Thanks for the words.
ah, that's excellent. i got an immediate flash in my mind of a ring that's in my jewelry box, a mourner's ring, it was my great-grandmother's. for her youngest son. he was an adult, but barely. the ring is neatly snipped in the back, where eventually it had to be removed from *her* finger by choice.
~~Melanie
choice? er, force. duh.
~Melanie
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