Covering for a colleague I begin to startle after the tenth call-med refill requests, side effect questions, and suicidal thoughts...
Errors in technique are forgivable; failures in humanity are not.
- Ralph Greenson
Covering for a colleague, I begin
to startle after the tenth call-
med refill requests, side effect
questions, and suicidal thoughts
I assess between my own patients
rustling People in the waiting room.
I’m strong all day, but when night
comes on I tire, need food, time
to reflect and catch my breath.
At eleven, it’s the phone again.
She’s anxious, can’t sleep, lost
her script, can I phone it in?
I question her hard, too hard,
convinced I’m being scammed.
Against my will, my voice becomes
sandpaper, and I sand until she cries.
Satisfied, I phone in the script.
Fifty thousand calls in a career?
Fifty thousand chances
to get one wrong.