Leaving Early

Poet Leanne O’Sullivan wrote this piece about leaving her husband’s bedside and entrusting his care to his bedside nurse. It’s a tribute to the deep healing work that nurses do for patients and their families. It also reminds us that, whatever our role, it is OK to tag out and leave the hospital at the end of the day or the week. Have a wonderful weekend.

Thank you Dr. Elizabeth Fiorino, for thinking of us.

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Leaving Early

by Leanne O'Sullivan

My Love,

   tonight Fionnuala is your nurse.

You’ll hear her voice sing-song around the ward

lifting a wing at the shore of your darkness.

I heard that, in another life, she too journeyed

through a storm, a kind of curse, with the ocean

rising darkly around her, fierce with cold,

and no resting place, only the frozen

rocks that tore her feet, the light on her shoulders.

And no cure there but to wait it out.

If, while I’m gone, your fever comes down—

if the small, salt-laden shapes of her song

appear as a first glimmer of earth-light,

follow the sweet, hopeful voice of that landing.

She will keep you safe beneath her wing.