Jan Melara graduated from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas with a degree in nursing. After twenty five
years of working in health care, she has retired to an idyllic lake in South Carolina. Short fiction by Ms. Melara
has been published in Dew on the Kudzu: A Southern Ezine and in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.
years of working in health care, she has retired to an idyllic lake in South Carolina. Short fiction by Ms. Melara
has been published in Dew on the Kudzu: A Southern Ezine and in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.
Nighttime in the ER
Cool white walls
Linoleum glistening under hard fluorescence
Someone vomits behind a pink and blue plaid curtain
The gay girl puts down her magazine
(carefully so she doesn't lose her place)
We all play cards into the night.
The radio squawks
Static blurs the words
We are control.
The snap of a latex glove
Red cart marked Snap On
at the ready
A son not quite following in his dad's footsteps
a steel stretcher
dingy rubber wheels
Fast, so fast.
The purpose of communication is transfer of
information
Sensible shoes slap smartly
Air humid with adrenalin at 93%
A woman screams, then sobs.
"Put her in the quiet room."
Another hand is dealt.
Cool white walls
Linoleum glistening under hard fluorescence
Someone vomits behind a pink and blue plaid curtain
The gay girl puts down her magazine
(carefully so she doesn't lose her place)
We all play cards into the night.
The radio squawks
Static blurs the words
We are control.
The snap of a latex glove
Red cart marked Snap On
at the ready
A son not quite following in his dad's footsteps
a steel stretcher
dingy rubber wheels
Fast, so fast.
The purpose of communication is transfer of
information
Sensible shoes slap smartly
Air humid with adrenalin at 93%
A woman screams, then sobs.
"Put her in the quiet room."
Another hand is dealt.
Jan Melara
