After a long day of patient after patient
I lock the front door,clinic now vacant
On toes so sore in high heeled shoes
I carry my corpse to the rhythm of blues.
I close my eyes , my silence amplifies
I probe inside and suddenly visualize
A teeny tiny tissue in my mid-brain
My ‘ventral tegmental area’, area insane*
“Oh You” I cried,”what have you done?
Your dopamine surges helped no one
A chimera, you just torment and harrow
If only you had ducked that fatal arrow
VTA replied quietly,” look beyond Pain,
I gave you joy simple and plain
intense labor and pain of pregnancy
leads to a mother’s greatest ecstasy.
Alara
*Ventral tegmental area or VTA is a group of neurons in the mid brain. It plays an important role in intense emotions relating to love.