I just reread my poem and the incredible comments i posted from “Rachel” –who knows who she really is, a loyal and wonderful reader of Wagblog and a terrific writer herself — and i thought it bore a reblog right here on my own blog. Rachels comments about the difficulties of nursing in this insane world are right on! Thank you.
POEM IN WHICH I SPEAK FRANKLY, FORGIVE ME
GOMER: ER-speak for a troublesome, unwanted person in the emergency department, acronym for Get Out of My Emergency Room
So many times gurneyed in by ambulance and police escort
“dangerous to self or others,” and too psychotic
to cooperate or scribble consent, you suspect by now
you are just a GOMER to the snickering scrubs in the ER
who whisk you in back with the other disruptives
lying in beds, waiting for “beds.”
One time you dip paranoid into the inkwell of your purse
extracting a paring knife more amulet than effective protection,
they strip-search you, then, unblinking, eyeball you all night
through a bulletproof plexiglass window.
In the morning, 15-day-papered so you can’t leave,
they send you ominously upstairs.
Later, at home, the voices decree your left leg
should go up in flames to atone for the evil within,
and you listen…
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WAGblog: Dum Spiro Spero 
I tried to leave you s message at the comments section at my blog… I am hoping you will get notification of it? Pam W
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Thank you! I am your fan and friend, too! 🙂
As you know, my “real” first name is Linda, which was the most common name for girls born in the early 1950s. A rather boring and forgettable name, in my opinion.
A case in point: last Sunday I ran into another 60ish woman whom I remembered having worked with briefly about four years ago. We said hello to each other and then we both said, at the same time, “I am sorry, but I have forgotten your name.”
Then we said our name at the same time.
Linda. We are both named Linda. 😅
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That’s okay , Rachel, I mean, Alaina. Whoops, I mean Linda!!! I knew exactly who you were the minute I started re-reading your “Rachel ” comments…because your writing just shines. Thank you for being you. You know what the man said about a rose smelling as sweet as a rose no matter the name? Well, I sorta think of you like that — your writing is wonderful no matter whose name you pen it under.
Your fan and friend,
Pam
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Oh… my… goodness. Sisters of No Mercy, indeed! I had almost forgotten about briefly experimenting with the pen name “Rachel” three years ago, before deciding that the name “Alaina” suited me better… and then ultimately, a few months ago, I settled on using my real first name, “Linda,” for my pen name, paired with a made up last name.
And, through it all, I have always been @LadyQuixote on Twitter.
With all these name changes, a person might wonder if I have multiple personality disorder like my father did. I just had such a hard time deciding on a name for myself. I used “Rebecca Rochelle” as a pen name for my novel, only to decide, by the time it was published in April 2000, that I hated that name.
Sigh. I have to face it, I have issues. But it’s ok, I am not trying to hurt or fool anybody with my name changes. My problem is that I am 62 years old and still not sure what — or who — I want to be when I grow up. 😉
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