The Medic



The Medic doesn’t heal you,

The Medic doesn’t stay with you.

He is like a comma or a semicolon

In the middle of a sentence;

He’s there just long enough to give you pause.

Down the road is healing, and he may take you there

By road or stream or air,

He won’t stay with you,

But not because he doesn’t care,

He just doesn’t have TIME.

On the ground he looks at you,

Processes you,

Sees your wound, your blood, your guts,

As you.

And then he either kisses you with life,

Or leaves you there to Death.

Only long after does he cry or laugh

Having seen you die or live.

The Medic sees you cry, but can’t afford to care then –

Beyond just another wound or cut.

He’s on to the next one, and the next one,

And the next.

Until Peace comes to save him,

He’s all-in!

Never quit!

Never die!

Stick a needle in his eye!

About this poem

The Medic

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Written on June 14, 2019

Submitted by mjgranger1 on June 09, 2021

Modified on March 23, 2023

48 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme A A B X X C C A C X A X X X X X B X B X X X
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 798
Words 162
Stanzas 22
Stanza Lengths 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Montgomery J Granger

Husband, father, author/poet, retired educator, retired military. I live on Long Island, NY. Born in Illinois, raised in SoCal, with boyhood summers spent in the Midwest visiting relatives, playing baseball, going to ballgames and museums. College in Alabama, grad school in New York City where I met my wife. Professional certification on Long Island. Army medic and then Medical Service officer. After 9/11/2001 deployed to Gitmo and Iraq. Authored one book: Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay: A Memoir of a Citizen Warrior." 2010, Strategic Book Publishing. more…

All Montgomery J Granger poems | Montgomery J Granger Books

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    "The Medic" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/102271/the-medic>.

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