This poem is inspired by a family of birds living on a stone ledge in a hospital garden, visible from the hospital’s halls. I passed them many times as I walked from the ICU to the OR. We watched each other with great interest.
I, a bird
my mourning song
sing today
with more terror
than before
I, a bird
match the endless watch,
the transported carousel
down
a linoleum road
I, a bird
bow to a metronome,
inertia buried
in the dirt
of hurried steps
I, a bird
draw blood
as they draw theirs
rusted grief
bottled
I, a bird
watch wrought hands twist
and so watch
to clench my claws
in weathered stone
I, a bird
my mourning song
sing today
with more sorrow
than before
—Irena Zivkovic, MD
University of British Columbia, General Surgery PGY-3
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