Strength

Not quite a poem, just some words put together.

You see, the thing about strength is that one person only has so much of it. Doing this job, riding the ambulance, it takes a lot of strength. Strength to carry a patient down three flights of stairs. Strength to preform CPR for 30 minutes, in hopes of restoring life within someone who was taken too early. Strength to get out of bed at 3 A.M. to help someone you've never met, and may never see again. More than anything this job requires you to be strong for the lives in your hands, and the loved ones that stand by, watching, waiting and hoping. But it's not just on the ambulance that we need strength. We have families, friends, others who rely on us on a daily basis. We need to be there to support them in their times of need. So where does that leave us. How do we have enough strength to support ourselves? See, that's where deceit comes into play. A former EMT wrote a poem about it. And I've never heard more true words. Deceit is funny. It can destroy relationships, ruin lives, an tear people apart. But when it comes to strength, deceit is what keeps us going. It allows us to be strong for everyone else while we still seem strong and okay on our own. It keeps others from seeing the dark truth of what this job does to us. With the help of deceit, we can move through the motions of life day to day, and look like heroes to those around us. But we are far from that. Deep down we are cynical and tormented. This job teaches you to trust no one. The things we see haunt us forever. On our own we break down and cry; have nightmares; constantly think about where we could've improved and done better for those in our care. But people around us don't get the chance to see that, because deceit is there to cover up the darkness and make us seem alright. However, the strength with in us is what powers us to go to work an hour after the loss of a loved one, and get up after the longest shift of our lives, just to do it all over again. Strength helps us move mountains for those we care about. The sad part? At the end of the day, after the calls are done and the blood is cleaned, we can only hope that there is someone else there, waiting to share their strength with you.

Author's Note

First time writing anything since high school. Just wanted to share.