{"product_id":"standing-in-their-fire-poems-from-a-hospital-nurse-paperback","title":"Standing in Their Fire: Poems from a Hospital Nurse - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eShawna L. Swetech\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShawna Swetech's poems are both brutal and tender, testifying to the body's vulnerability, and the beauty of our humanity even in - perhaps especially in - moments of extremis. Drawing on her decades-long nursing career for vibrant details that nail the scene, Swetech brings us inside the hospital rooms where she encounters suffering and courage, agony and transcendence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlison Luterman\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eDesire Zoo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn the Time of Great Fires\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReading this fine collection of poems, I am struck by Swetech's instinct for how to deliver a narrative, when to let a carefully observed detail speak for itself, and how much mystery a poem can embrace. A lyric poet who is also a compassionate caregiver and nurse, she finds the music and metaphor to render each experience with tenderness, unflinching accuracy, and wonder. Take, for example, her description of dementia as the \"brain fold[ing] itself \/ into an intricate origami of pale cells \/ and broken shells.\" Even as she guides the reader through the chaos of the ER or the incurable horror of patients dying in their bodies, she never loses sight of the \"brief \/ breathtaking intimacy \/ of eavesdropping on organs \/ performing \/ their moment-to-moment miracle.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eTerry Ehret\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eNight Sky Journey\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eLucky Break, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eSonoma County Poet Laureate Emerita\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere you will find an honest, ground-level view of what it's really like at the interface between healer and patient, the close calls, the bonding, the shared privacies all the way down to the touch and aroma at the heart of healing. As such it removes the mask that colors our understanding, and what we see is that, in this opening-up, there is an \"artful and lovely\" aspect even at the peak of pain and suffering. What is achieved here is that in the most isolating of circumstances there can be, by this \"standing in\" at the bedside, an almost spiritual companionship that endures and sustains through the pain and perils of illness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Watts, M.D.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eBedside Manners: Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eKaty Bridge: Poetry\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 92\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.19 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 14, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53300708344115,"sku":"9781639809882","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/qaBRM6YpaM9781639809882.webp?v=1777496236","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/standing-in-their-fire-poems-from-a-hospital-nurse-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}