In Praise of a Physician


I do not know this man personally, but his story was told to me by someone who does. I wrote this poem for him and all the other people like him.


A young boy saw his brother made whole
By the ministrations of a pediatrician
Whose capable skill and knowledge received
The mother's gratitude and adoration

The boy knew then that he wanted to be
The one to make families whole
By rescuing the injured and fevered child
From Death unyielding hold

So, he worked and studied hard to earn
The blessed title of pediatrician
And labored in the hospital rooms
To heal all those beloved children

Then one day a child came in
Whose ills came from those
Who should have protected him
But abuse instead had chose

In that day no one wish to oppose
The conduct of an unfit parent
The legal work was enough to pale
Many a professional's heart

But this man did not shirk
His responsibility to that child
And with meticulous care did undertake
The mounds of paperwork required

His dedication was thorough
His medical care disputeless
He handed to the district attorney
The tools needed to save the helpless

Because he did this duty so well
Other children were sent to him
With bodies and spirits broken and scarred
Whose lives desperately needed someone like him

He who once wished only
To make a family whole
Found that his was another mission
To save the abused child his goal

Once he sought earnestly
The adoration of heros to gain
He chose instead to do
The quiet work of angels' pain


Copyright © 1998, Lady Fribble

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