Issue > Poetry

Jennifer M. Pierson

Jennifer Pierson, at the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, assisted the incoming wounded at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Her manuscript, Dispatches from the (war) Hospital, including the poem, "Rushing/Balad...," was inspired by these experiences.

Rushing/balad Hospital/arrival

Kick-up of sand/wind//

All is shadowed/then
the whick-whick of blades
as the helicopter lands

The medic rushes down/a bundle in his arms/rushes

to the medic/rushing/to take the bundle from his arms//

A foot
falls
off//

Blood and sorrow-pain/'s
carried into bright light