"Blood Work at the VA" by Gene Hodge

Blood Work at the VA

Gene Hodge

Did she like me,

did she catch my smile

                                      as she pushed the needle in my arm?

Watching as the empty vial

fills with my warm blood,

I wonder. . . ,

Did she believe me

when I said, “you’re special?”

It’s her, the same nurse,

each year that

I return for my health screening.

Golden hair glowing

like sunlight through a cloud,

intoxicating sprit, sweet as honey crisp apples.

Unabashed, she hands me a container,

    “take this to the restroom

for a urine sample,

                               place it here on the table

as you leave.”

Just like that . . .  and it’s over!

Beautiful Cristy, passionate, cute Cristy

touching me for 

a Tuesday morning moment—

never to know

       the ache of a young man’s desire,

       the poem in his heart;

       a romantic novel—

Each page with her name written in gold.

Poet’s Notes:  Each year the Veterans Administration offers a health screening and each year the same nurse administers my blood work and urine analysis.  Being friendly and offering kind words is easy when you are a visitor but must become routine and mundane to the worker.  The patient is just another patient.

Editor’s Note:  This one is charming as an unrequited love poem but also makes an important statement about the depersonalization from which healthcare workers and patients often suffer.  The grammatical error in line 9 was left in by the poet’s direction (and over my objection) to give the piece a more colloquial feel.