A Normal Day Poem by Cecil (cj) Krieger

The nurse left work
At five-o-clock
Followed by a midget
In a floppy eared winter hat
Who looked something like
A small mixed breed dog
Caught between a Pit Bull Terrier
And a very old Mexican Chiwawa

This was the way it went
Every workday
For the last seven years
And unless you knew
That all of them worked together
At the county hospital
You would swear
That the circus was in town

It was an odd arrangement
As the management hired everyone
Sight unseen
According to their abilities
Not their appearance!

And in this small town
This particular hospital
Seemed to attract
An odd conglomeration of employees
From all four corners
Of the world

Returning home
To her small cold water flat
She put up a pot of hot water
And as it heated
Decided on a cup
Of herbal lemon-grass tea
Before settling into
A very old lazy-boy chair

Reaching over to the table
She flicked the replay button
On her answering machine
And listened to all her messages
Or should I have said
All “one” of her messages

“Hi Mrs. Smith” (it went on)
“We have a problem
With the last check you sent
Could you”…
A loud click sounded
As she hit the erase button
And the tape ran backwards
Stopping with a thud at the end

It was the same message
She had been receiving
Every day (weekends too!)
For the last three months
Still, there was nothing to do
Work was sparse
And she was told over and over
How lucky she was
To still be working!

Totally exhausted
It only took several minutes
After turning the TV on
Before she fell off
Into a sound peaceful sleep
Only to be jarred awake
By the shrill sound
Of her alarm clock

A quick shower
A change of clothes
And a microwave breakfast later
With very little
On her mind
She was out the door
And walking to the hospital

It took about ten minutes
For her to arrive at the ER
Where she greeted the guard
With a sleepy morning hello
As I watched her walk in
Followed by a midget
In a floppy eared winter hat
Who looked something like
A small mixed breed dog
Caught between a Pit Bull Terrier
And a very old Mexican Chiwawa