Joint Commission Visit

inspectors see no normal shift
hands washed masks tight
worksuits pressed goggles
fastened beards shaved
hair tied phones harmonized
leader worker administration
flawless integration smilin’
barcodes scanned packages
unsealed gloves donned with
fluorescent timing safety
questions upheld exhale
deep breaths when company
passes soon as they gone
fade back to incandescent
smokin’ fuel-soaked air
repressed tar patches
ain’t gonna relieve
vital machines squeak
like rusted mine carts
body mind de-synergized
all cells rooms miners
actin’ more or less
independently this would
be where a union fits
how can you commit
to the joint when it
ain’t
fully
lubri
cated

shortages

company pharmacist livin’ above the saloon posts flyers
‘bout dry company larders and vaporized drugs
how we need to convert medicine supposed to run
through veins back to runnin’ through mouths
treatin’ blood infections without glass bottles to capture them bugs
thousands of prescriptions switchin’ since no matter
how many calculations can’t figure the formulary
so many lives we could save investin’ in more than one company
spread out the burden to man  barons corner markets                         destroy monopolies
elderly mine men and child amputees work overtime
but still succumb to treatable disease
when will we as miners raise arms preach about days of Christ
and how we should love our neighbor
funny how the parish ain’t dry of guns
but we can’t save lives

pharmacist friend
i understand
why you cry

Phil Jurasinski (he/him) is a poet and board-certified internist and pediatrician  living in Chicago, IL, who holds two masters degrees in nursing and public health, a bachelors degree in science and a minor in English literature. He writes about the intersectionality between medicine, politics, social justice, nostalgia, and the LGBTQ community. His work has appeared in the University of Missouri-Kansas City Human Factor literary magazine.