Mourning # 17

Mourning # 17

 

My face is numb

I won’t slap it

I cannot smell or taste

all white noise

my eyes dart

I move arms and legs

like a robot

that time

I choked in a restaurant

that time we

made love

on a dark night train

neither of us

could dance

but we did anyway

in the kitchen

-- my heart is broken.

-- my life is over.

-- I cannot say goodbye.

-- help me.

 

---- Dr. Susan Moore, a black physician

posted on social media how she was denied

pain relief at an Indiana hospital.

she had to beg for proper medical care and

was discharged too early. she was outraged

because her treatment, as a black woman,

was inferior. she documented her stay on a

video recorded from her hospital bed. many

of her black peers supported her claim of

unequal treatment based on race.

 

“… when we find ourselves as patients, we are

disrespected, devalued & dismissed.”

 

Susan Moore, 52, died in Indianapolis

of COVID-19 which she contracted while

assisting her own patients.

 

A spokesperson for Indiana University

Health North would not comment on Dr. Moore’s

allegations citing privacy concerns.