Status Post Surgery

By Aaron Poller

After surgery the world looks good,
even great if you discount the effect

of 1000 mg. of vicodin q. 6 hrs.,
don’t get caught up in the nursing shortage,

or the powerful self admonition
about work and productivity

essential to the body politic
as well as the body temporal.

Kick back, listen to mellow music, let
the body do its own work for a change.

Maybe some dear friend will drop in
with something vegan for dinner

or a thoughtful snack that will save me
from another jiggling trip to the Harris T.

where I feel too down to squeeze the fruit,
too up to buy junk or anything filled

with carbohydrates that will bring my body
back to earth, to heaven’s lamentation.

Aaron Poller was born in the Bronx, New York. He received a BA in English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied writing and poetry with Robert Mezey, Jean Garrigue and Daniel Hoffman. He studied mental health nursing at Montgomery County Community College, LaSalle University, and University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a Board Certified Psychiatric/Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist. He has worked for over 35 years in mental health nursing and since 2005 maintains a practice as a psychotherapist in Winston-Salem, N.C. He also teaches mental health nursing at Winston-Salem State University. He has two grown daughters and lives with his wife, four dogs and two cats.

For the Students of Mental Health Nursing 3511

By Aaron Poller

Seems like we’ve been through hard times you and me.
Does that make a difference? I suppose it does.

This morning my dog Nick peed a perfect
map of Cambodia on the kitchen floor.

And in two hours from now I will ride
the shuttle bus across campus to give you

one last gift, the final exam.
And you will be there with your shining face

and your faith that the world can be better.
Seems like we’ve been through hard times you and me.

And if nursing the world is how we choose,
these hard times will be more grist for our mills.


Aaron Poller was born in the Bronx, New York. He received a BA in English Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied writing and poetry with Robert Mezey, Jean Garrigue and Daniel Hoffman. He studied mental health nursing at Montgomery County Community College, LaSalle University, and University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a Board Certified Psychiatric/Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist. He has worked for over 35 years in mental health nursing and since 2005 maintains a practice as a psychotherapist in Winston-Salem, N.C. He also teaches mental health nursing at Winston-Salem State University. He has two grown daughters and lives with his wife, four dogs and two cats.