Johanna Shapiro, PhD
These are your doctors
drinking themselves into oblivion
jumping off rooftops
huddled sobbing on a bridge
sinking to the floor
outside their patient’s room
They know how to choose
Just the right drugs
to make the world disappear
they know exactly where
to place the gun
They look dazed, amazed
at their own
fragility
They do not want to be here
taking care of you
They think you are dying
and they are not
they pity you
Pity them, your doctors
They are filled with despair
that they don’t recognize
because they cannot even recognize
your despair
See yourself in them
Then maybe they will see
themselves in you