Starting as the small ember
built on dolls and plastic stethoscopes
nursing kittens and puppies
although quite healthy but
ready for cuddles
growing stronger each year
nursing school and new friends
learned giving injections in oranges
wrapping tensor bandages
taking out stitches
first bed baths on strangers
cleaning messes that were just gross
relieving shame and discomfort of the sick
our perspectives of what is really gross changed
earning white stockings from black stockings
graduating from a white cap with no band
to a blue velvet band and finally
the black signature band of an RN
the fire in our bellies grown strong
while we worked through shifting hours, days and years.
we are the smoke from that fire in our bellies.
“Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us
but we can’t strike them all by ourselves.”
~ Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate
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