This poem reminds us that we are connected to each other and that life events of strangers can influence our own lives. Although the family farm is becoming more rare, there are still families who work hard making sure that we have food for our tables. Families involved in agriculture face many challenges, including potentially serious and deadly unintended injury, every day. Growing up, it was not uncommon to hear about people using a hand to try to extricate a foot or hand from machinery. While it seems logical sense not to reach into moving equipment, I think it is a natural human reaction. Not reaching in requires an unusual presence and preparation of mind.
In health care we often have to make or help make decisions in which a significant loss must be incurred to gain something of greater value. This poem illustrates such an occasion. There is great irony in healing hands taking hands. Many hands are witnesses in this operating room: Eli's, the surgeon's, the nurse's, Elsie's, Henry's and the surgeon's children's.
We often hear about accidents on the news, but rarely about how those who survive trauma, particularly mutilating trauma, go on with the act of living. This poem helps us catch a glimpse of what happened to Eli, the surgeon, and their families after Eli left the operating room that day. We are confronted with the enormous consequences of one simple act of reaching in.
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