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AFTER THE OPERATION
Private Notes
Private Notes
Notes
After The Operation
Age 65, Carteret Hospital, Morehead City, North Carolina, 2010
This poem came to me right after surgery for a full hip replacement and was the one that began this autobiographical series of poems
-- This is one poem, from my autobiographical series of poems, that I posted here at WriteSpike. Go to my Stories section for others. They are in chronological order. --
You won't remember the recovery room
they never do
the nurse tells me
you think you will but you won't
ceiling tiles
square white lights
swirling playing cards
searching for a hat
shuffle above me
as I lie flat
on a rolling cart
and slide along
into a warm bed
and another nurse's care
it's like a dream, I say
I had a dream, she says
I know about dreams, I kept a dream journal, there is no logic, I say
I'm falling, what does it mean, she says
you feel you're losing control, I say
I'm not flying, I'm falling, she says
we're all in recovery, I say
then I crawl into a warm place
above the bed and below the ceiling
where the tiled lights stop moving
and I hover
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I realized years later that the lingering effects of the anesthetic might have played a part as well.