The season of Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year and consists of the four Sundays before Christmas Day. It is a time marked by preparation and festivities, as Christians get ready to celebrate the coming of Emmanuel, “God with us.”
When I began my chaplaincy residency last year at a Level I Trauma Center, I had never before served on the trauma team at a hospital. (Due to COVID restrictions, my chaplaincy internships did not involve anything in the entire Emergency Department.) Part of how I understand chaplaincy is that chaplains serve as a reminder of the presence of the Divine, however the Divine is understood. Today I share with you the poem I wrote after my first call shift in my residency, which included my first time serving as a Chaplain in the Trauma Bay of the Emergency Department (the 11th busiest ED in the country, no less). The post script was added later, after my second shift. Thank you to my CPE supervisor for providing editing support and reflection.
My First On-Call Shift
The staff do not care
If your underwear is not clean
If you have recently shaved.
They only care about saving your life.
They cut off your clothes.
You will look like a beached whale.
Or maybe a dolphin, never like Adonis.
(Or maybe Adonis never comes to the ED.)
They put a towel over your privates
As they assess you
And a blanket higher up for women.
They work their hardest to stabilize you.
Then, after x-rays, before CT scans,
I swoop in
To ask if I can call anyone for you
To offer to pray for you
To remind you God is here, too.
P.S.
Adonis came to the ED
On my second on-call shift
Unblemished skin, muscular physique,
A 6’2” 33 year old at 3 a.m.
So, even gods fall.
Even Adonis comes to the ED
And gets his body laid flat on his back.
A myth-busting poem. Nice.