Nancy L. Meek

THE DAY BEFORE THE MOVE

‘Twas the day before the move, we prepared for the worst,
Not a patient was stirring, not even a nurse;
The I.V.’s were hung by the bedsides with care
In hopes they’d get well before the packing affair.

The doctors were sitting all smug in their seats
While writing new orders for the patients they treat.
And Mrs. Sabin on the phone and I on my round
Exchanged knowing glances with nary a sound

When far down the ward there arose such a clatter,
We dashed from the desk to see what was the matter.
Away to the hall we flew like a flash,
Tore past Charlie, who was picking up trash.

Dale, with his vacuum, was hogging the floor
And talked about T.V. and what was in store.
When, what to our wandering eyes should appear
But the “mobile cart boy” with his good morning cheer.

The time of the morning was 8:27.
We knew in a moment it must be Kevin.
More rapid than eagles with his cart he came,
And he smiled and shouted and called us by name,

“Hi, Vi! Hi, Nancy! Hi, Dale! How are you?
Now move out the way so I can get through…
So I can park my cart at my place in the hall!
Now, dash away, dash away, dash away, all!”

As swiftly and agile as the deer on a spree,
When it meets with an obstacle, avoids every tree,
So, then down the hall, the mobile cart flew
With drawers full of meds – and Kevin Moore, too!

An then in a twinkling, we heard his computer…
The sound of its clicks was a welcome intruder.
Then he threw up his head and was turning around…
A marathon runner… now covering ground!

He was dressed to-the-teeth from his head to his foot,
Everything clean and together well-put.
A handful of meds he pulled from his stash
And he looked like a king counting his cash.

His eyes how they twinkled! There was no comparing!
A man on a mission, so thoughtful and caring.
Our mobile cart boy, with beeper in tow…
And the lab coat he wore was as white as the snow.

His well-used pen he held tight in his hand.
The speed with which he wrote, we can’t understand.
He had a way with the nurses and everybody else…
Always putting others ahead of himself.

The beeper he wore was attached to his belt
And we beeped him too often and whenever we felt.
But with a wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,
Soon gave us to know we had nothing to dread.

With lightning speed he finished his work,
And filled all his baggies, then turned with a jerk,
And pointing his finger to one of his notes,
He sprang to the elevator, while we read what he wrote:

“Sha Wang! I’m leaving you and finally getting free!
Dingo’s got your baby and Coram’s getting me!
Take care, Chicken Butt, I’ll try to keep in touch!”
We replied, “Merry Christmas, Kev! We love you very much!”

Author’s Note: The hospital for which I work closed its doors in 1996. As we were in the process of “packing up” to move to our new building, one of my co-workers decided he would not be going with us to the new location. Since it was near Christmas, I combined the events and wrote this “going-away” poem for him… hope you enjoy… they all seemed to get a kick out of it.