CREATIVE CORNER

Submitted by Amelia Collins, University of Georgia

CREATIVE CORNER

Submitted by Annie Davis, University of Illinois

Moral Braveness

"Moral Braveness is not what it might seem

It’s not easy nor is it simple 

It’s not something in between

It’s not a natural born quality

That is a common theme

It’s comes from the braveness of your heart

Something that you dream

It’s something that you stand up for 

And maybe make a scene

But you speak about it anyway

Even if it isn’t mainstream

“Well most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong. . .”

but that’s the moral cowardice coming through them like a beam."

A Corona Chronicle

A Corona Chronicle

Written by: Madison Gohlke, Auburn University 

It’s been a while since we’ve all been here

In the classroom once again

Seeing faces we haven’t seen in months

(Albeit without their chins)

We sip our coffee behind our masks

And clean our glasses constantly

Talk about the externships we missed

Or lament over surgery

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Meditations on Amateur Blood Collection

Madison Gohlke, Auburn University

A growling, griping, flopping mess

The syringe flies through the air

I wipe my brow and softly cuss

Suspiciously, you glare

I gently coax and offer treats

You eye me warily

I slide my arm under your neck

You spaz and try to flee

My longsuffering friend who’s here to help

Politely judges me

I say we do this all the time

(as if we live Fear-Free)

Don’t know if it’s the alcohol wipe

Or the poke that incites your rage

Or even just to be restrained

But you refuse to be assuaged

We take a break, then try again

Your veins roll like a log

You yelp when she pokes the needle in

I’m sorry, you dumb dog

If you’d hold still, then we’d be done

And I wish it didn’t hurt

But my dear, you don’t speak English yet

So control I must exert

I consider: is it worth all this? 

It’s just some free bloodwork

But she pets your head, you wag your tail

And I love you, you big jerk

So we’ll find those veins, we’ll draw this blood

And make sure you’re okay

I hope you don’t remember this

Or how upset you were today

And I promise, in the future, dear,

If you’ll cooperate this time

We won’t do this for another year

And maybe I’ll switch to bovine….

The Commute

Vanessa Walthall - Florida

V:50 I:4 Creative Corner

The Commute

Spring days the old licheny red buds bloom purple

saying WE ARE STILL ALIVE.

A watchful eye over the nitrogenous green pond

catches glimpses of great blues, little blues, cormorants, an alligator. 

Summer afternoons cattle chew their cud

in the shade of sprawling live oaks.

Humid mornings the air is heavy with the dank smell of swine.

An osprey keeps a look out from its nest atop the grain elevator.

Breezy days a sweet acrid smoke drifts across the path

as the beehives are being worked.

Bald cypress and pignut hickory glint gold in the sun.

Fall comes late in Florida. 

Winter mornings the cattle are invisible

blanketed by a cold fog.

They share their pastures with the sandhill cranes

hundreds chortling, probing the soil, dancing.

Home, I open the door

a cat tries to sneak out while a dog propellers her tail and sniffs my pants,

WELCOME HOME!

Who did you meet and treat today?

Most days, six miles, four years becoming a vet, 1200 miles peddled, 

this is my commute.