Rebecca Quinn is an inner-city GP, who occasionally encounters the sublime amongst the daily grind of people that she had the privilege of calling her patients
We are soft bodied – we are trained:
This doctor is open and empathetic
This doctor is trustworthy .
We hear you
Strongly agree or Agree, most of the time.
And so, when you hear me on the line
In between the car horns and the screaming baby
Please know
I am trying to patch a clinical web over your problem
Empathetically. Communicating blind.
Flushing the darkness systematically with questions
That dredge the deep; clutching professionally
For answers that shape up into neat, precise lines:
This doctor is excellent at diagnosis, management and cure.
“Well I wanted a call between 9:38 and 9:49
You are late, for starters. I can barely hear you
Buzzing away down that awful line
But I just need my meds.
That whispering fizz itches my ear something terrible.
Like a fly in my ointment. I don’t
Know if I have a fever. I feel hot. I don’t
Know if my bowels have changed, I’m not a doctor. I don’t
Even need a doctor:
I know what the problem is and I know what I need and that’s meds.
Featured photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash
