A Sonnet for My Wife, the Surgeon

From where do you draw so much strength each day
To fight the fight of life and death despair
When so many patients will waste what may
Be the last time they will draw breath and air.

Your light burns bright with such a fierce red flame
As the world veers so near the darkest void
I brim with pride to see you use my name
And bask in glow of yours sharing your joy.

The end is near for this, the longest step
And though by day i am not by your side
Know that this world remains within your debt
And I barely contain my swelling pride.

No greater spark than that within your kiss
Forever yours and saying “As you wish.”

Author’s note: My wife completes a six year surgical residency training program in June.

A Sonnet for the COVID-19 Era

The world seems quiet and absent of mirth
And though we smile and try to show our hope
We wonder what will follow this, rebirth?
A world order sways gently on a rope.

Nature seems to have reclaimed earth from us
And I try to keep my gaze on the stars
While some consider this not worth the fuss
Of course heaven and earth were never ours.

Outside I look to neighbors for a grin
Our homes, not traps, but something new and strange
Human affairs turned inside out within
Experience beyond our normal range.

The best of us fight on to stem the tide
While we who are unarmed bemoan the ride.

Jeff Nosanov is a writer and entrepreneur living in Bethesda, MD. He has written short stories and a children’s book, led NASA research projects, and started several companies. He currently works in cloud computing and is trying to make sense of human existence one day at a time.

Image: Henry VIII and the Barber Surgeons, by Hans Holbein the Younger