The Surgeon

In the ambient hums of fluorescent light,

The deeds of a hero are done in the flicker,

the bulb as long for the world as the victim of crime.

 

By the light, the hero is nothing, ordinary,

but by dark ambiance, the hero gives life.

The glide of needle and thread; whiff of alcohol, rot of blood,

the hero seals the pain and heals the wound.

The lighting of red and the cries of pain cease.

All is silent.

 

To weigh life and death of the victim is this hero’s job.

The world is an evil place, filled with hate of the wicked.

Our hero succeeds and fails, as are all things human.

With success comes praise, with failure comes grief,

the feelings failure; an unforgivable percentile error to the hero.

 

The hero is a medical doctor, a master of her field.

The hero is a machine; her limb of a cold steel.

The hero is just that; A hero.