Tag Archives: Laura Anne White

Hands

April 3, 2018

Laura White Rochester, Minnesota, United States   I have long been ambivalent toward my prematurely wrinkled hands. This is a combination of my mother’s distaste for her own mitts – I am so sorry you got my hands – and the various comments of others referencing “old lady hands” and similar sentiments. My self-hand-concept has been historically unglamorous. […]

Birthday party

October 30, 2017

Laura White Rochester, Minnesota, United States   I scan the chemotherapy data into the computer system, noting the date of birth listed at the top right of the screen. Happy birthday, I say, hanging the bag of liquid on the IV pole. Thanks, he replies, and we share a contemptuous laugh. It feels like a […]

Breathing

July 10, 2017

Laura Anne White Rochester, MN, USA   Author’s statement: I wrote this poem on a piece of scrap paper around five am, towards the end of a night shift. About fifteen minutes after coming into work that evening, a patient of mine who had been somnolent struggled to breathe. Moments like this have a way […]