The Debt
The old surgeon is on call again
And no one can figure out why
He does it after all these years.
He had a good career.
He paid his dues,
Worked hard, offered quality,
Was always respected.
Isn’t it time to coast a little as he gets
Closer to the finish line?
But he has a secret
Reason no one knows—
Statistically speaking, ER call
Represents the most efficient method
Of putting a surgeon in the position
Of potentially saving a life—
Mesenteric ischemic
Ischemic bowel
Perforated ulcer
Free air
Strangulated hernia.
He drives in. He saves the day.
Another notch in the belt
Holding up the world as he knows it.
Every year he gets skinnier and skinnier.
You should eat, his wife says
But he replies: the more I save
The faster I pay off the debt that remains
From the lives of those I have lost.
Honey, I’m always in arrears
No matter how busy I get.
We’ll probably die as paupers.
Everything I’ve earned
Was always earmarked
To be remittance on a delinquency
That can never be paid back.
The best I can hope for now
Are those fleeting moments
Amidst the flurry of action
In the OR when I almost forget
How much I actually owe.
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