Tears and smiles

From the comfort of my home,
I watch NYU Hospital being evacuated –
patients, sometimes children,
carried down the stairs
(for the elevators do not work),
riding on gurneys,
accompanied by medical personnel,
emerge from the building
where EMTs meet them –
shield them from the wind and wet –
hustle them to the first ambulance
in the queue, its lights flashing.
As the patient gets on board,
the ambulance leaves
and another takes its place.

Tears run down my cheeks
toward a broad smile.

29 October 2012
Shire on the Hudson