Poem of Gratitude to My Colleagues

Lorena Del Pilar Bonilla, MD, MS, FACP

Another wave or another surge.

This place is on fire.

Embers of fear scattered here and there.

Remnants of the previous Delta come as we tire.

This is not fair in our wear and tear

despite all of this we still deliver great care.

We look eye to eye to one another across the room.

The candlelight in the iris of your eyes remains lit into late hours of the night.

We are a family and we lean into each other because the bond builds us up and we keep each other in sight.

We yearn for quality time to connect with our patients and their families.

Instead another day and another virtual meeting through zoom.

We witness the social maladies.

We miss the time to connect with our patients and their families.

We hear the small and quiet outbursts from our most gentle doctors who are nimble.

We are broken from the previous wave but we return empowered by the power of hope that allows us to remain standing and flexible.

We are like the palm trees that adapt to the fierce powerful winds of a hurricane.

We withstand the longing of our quality time with our patients and the pain of those transitioning to higher levels of care.

I look at myself in the mirror

and at the edge of my brown iris

I notice the embers of fear dissipate.

My body is equipped with antibodies and memory for this virus.

We have a variant, Omicron, that so far appears less lethal and we are seeing patients recover more quickly and are discharged home.

But the story is still unfolding and we are learning.

We have so many of them now eager to get vaccinated. Will those patients be the next vaccine ambassador to share their story ?

Please reach out to me or any of us if you need to talk.

Grateful for all of you for bringing that ember of hope.

About the Author:

Lorena Del Pilar Bonilla is a board-certified internal medicine physician. She has served as an advisor for LMSA SE Region. Her story was published in a book entitled, And then the Pandemic Hit, COVID Chronicles 2021. She has also published for immigrant advocacy as part of Doctors for Camp Closure. She is a member of VacunateYa/ThisIsOurShot. She holds a Masters of Science from Rutgers University and Medical Degree from University of Colorado School of Medicine.

About the Work:

I have worked as a hospitalist during the pandemic.