Billie Dee

Pediatrics

Back in the day I’d pull double shifts at the County Hospital, then race home to my waiting lover,
shower, dress, dance all night in that smokey little dive off Sunset Boulevard—limp home, nap,
shower, dress, repeat. . .

my last day
in the Emergency Room

tooth marks
on an infant’s thigh
wide as her father’s grin

Billie Dee is the former Poet Laureate of the U.S. National Library Service. A retired health-care worker, she earned her doctorate from UC Irvine, did post-graduate training at UCSD and UCLA. A California native, she now lives in the Chihuahuan Desert with her family and a pack of strays. Billie publishes both online and off. www.billie-dee-haiku.blogspot.com

This poem first appeared in haikuKatha (2023).