To do what nobody else will do, in a way that nobody else can, in spite of all we go through, is to be a nurse.
– Rawsi Williams, JD, BSN, RN, PhD
I work as an ICU nurse.
For the past two years
I have “lived” in an N95 mask
at work,
except for my lunch break,
when I sit alone on a bench
in the corridor
for sips of coffee
and a bite of yogurt.
Stress and fatigue
have become the norm.
My husband,
an interfaith minister,
reminds me
it’s only temporary.
The hardest thing
is
living in a community
that believes
nothing has changed,
viruses are hoaxes
and mask mandates
are
for other people.
It’s worse today
than it ever was
in early 2020.
Then, no one knew
what to do.
Today, people know
what to do
and choose not to.
(Found poem in a Letter to the Editor.)