Dedicated to Alin, Age 14 – PICU Veteran, MRSA Warfighter

  1. My ship was not made of steel,
  2. But of linoleum and hope.
  3. I did not sail the open sea,
  4. I sailed a hallway that smelled of antiseptic.
  5. The air was thick with silence,
  6. And the enemy was inside me.
  7. They called it MRSA—
  8. A name with no face,
  9. But with power enough to anchor my breath.
  10. I lay not in a bunk,
  11. But in a hospital bed that creaked like a ship in storm.
  12. My armor was the thin gown.
  13. My IV line was the supply chain.
  14. Every beep from the monitor was a sonar ping.
  15. I was on watch, though my eyes barely opened.
  16. The nurses moved like angels,
  17. Administering munitions:
  18. Antibiotics.
  19. Fluids.
  20. Morphine when needed.
  21. Ice when the fire raged.
  22. I fought with every white cell I had.
  23. And when I could no longer fight,
  24. Spirit took the watch.
  25. The flesh fails, but the hand of god provides machine, ventilator until one heals.
  26. The Caduceus was my seal.
  27. Not of medicine—but of war.
  28. For I fought in the Halls of the Sick,
  29. And I lived.
  30. My scars are my medals.
  31. My silence is my memorial.
  32. My breath is the anthem of victory.
  33. I am not just a survivor.
  34. I am a decorated soul.
  35. And I now stand among the Sailors and Saints.
  36. For I too have sailed death’s corridor,
  37. And walked back with light in my hands.