| 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. |
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| 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. |
| Jan Melara |
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