Jane O Wayne: Intensive Care

Intensive Care

Even the smallest tide
in the silver sea of a thermometer
can turn a ship around.

On that bleak shore,
every ebb and flow was charted.
What else was there to go on? Breathing

and nothing else but breathing—
no more than what an ear can conjure
out of an empty conch.

In such a storm, we might have been villagers
waiting for a lost ship.
We could never rest.

Which is worse then—waves beating
on an empty beach or the throbs of that device
working for your heart?

For months, it went on: no let up,
no north star in that blank sky—
only nods, grimaces,

your open eyes taunting us, like some word
on the tip of the tongue
one agonizes to recall but can’t.

Day after day, on the same narrow coast,
we stood guard, waiting
for some speck to reappear, for the wind

to give a different verdict.
To get through the nights,
we let the flat horizon hypnotize us.

Discussion Questions

• How did you react to Wayne’s poem? What did it stir up in you?

• Wayne uses a metaphor of a ship lost at sea. What does the metaphor capture that an objective, medical description of the ICU would miss?

• How do stories help you make sense of your experiences with illness and healthcare?

Reflections from #MedHumChat

“The few days we gathered round my sister as she lay dying. I've been trying to capture what it felt like -- this poem did it!

Day after day, on the same narrow coast, we stood guard, waiting for some speck to reappear, for the wind

to give a different verdict” —@LReedsbooks

“The overall sense of waiting throughout the entire poem was unsettling and perfectly representative of the icu - so often both the patients and providers are just waiting and waiting” —@CarlySokach

“It reminds me of experiences that, luckily, have only lasted a short time, but the waiting, the noises of the machines, the lack of knowledge about what really comes next, b/c you just don't know.” —@mcshannon17

About this #MedHumChat

“Intensive Care” was paired with “Practicing Medicine Can Be Grimm Work” by Valerie Gribben for a #MedHumChat on June 2, 2021 discussing Can Fairy Tales and Poetry Help Us Heal?

These pieces and discussion questions were originally curated by Colleen Farrell for the very first MedHumChat January 2, 2019.

About the Author

Jane O. Wayne is a poet and author whose work often centers around memories and loss. You can learn more about her here.