Nursing Games
The nurses took position
for the hundred metre hurdle,
each focusing on the patient
bedded at the end of their lane.
The call bell was the signal
that sent them running,
leaping cold metal filing cabinets,
racing towards the buzzing lights.
The first to reach her patient
was the loser. The winner
had stopped to shuffle papers,
tick sheets, file forms.
But I won, the first across the line,
protested. No, you did not,
she was told, for if it wasn’t written,
it wasn’t done.
Ross Wilson’s pamphlet, The Heavy Bag, was published by Calder Wood Press. His poems have appeared in many magazines. He also contributed to the script of The Happy Lands, a feature film in which he was credited as an actor.