Influential

I don’t idolize nurses, as a rule
they do what they have to do, like me and like you
it isn’t the occupation that makes the person noble
it’s the person who brings their own honor

I remember the muscles flexing in her arms
the arms extending from the short scrub sleeves
the set of her mouth as she wrote on a chart
the eyes that saw through excuses and bullshit

she shouldn’t have made it as far as she did
but she was smart enough and she was stubborn enough
that her race and gender didn’t stop her
she’s a role model who rose to the top

and while I never wanted to be a director of nursing
I can admire someone who did
and someone who is
when she worked for everything she has

joining in