Veronica Tucker
Terms and Conditions
Before using this body
please read carefully
Side effects may include
jaw clenching during kindness
phantom phone vibrations
difficulty distinguishing
burnout from citizenship
You may experience
the sudden urge
to apologize to furniture
after bumping into it
Users are advised
not to refresh the news feed
more than forty times daily
In rare cases
the nervous system may begin
interpreting email notifications
as predators
One study found
the average attention span
now lasts approximately
half a microwave cycle
Meanwhile
a teenager in triage
scrolls through disaster footage
while waiting for stitches
A nurse eats graham crackers
over the sink
without tasting them
Someone nearby
keeps trying to remember
the password
to their own life
If symptoms persist
continue anyway
please read carefully
Side effects may include
jaw clenching during kindness
phantom phone vibrations
difficulty distinguishing
burnout from citizenship
You may experience
the sudden urge
to apologize to furniture
after bumping into it
Users are advised
not to refresh the news feed
more than forty times daily
In rare cases
the nervous system may begin
interpreting email notifications
as predators
One study found
the average attention span
now lasts approximately
half a microwave cycle
Meanwhile
a teenager in triage
scrolls through disaster footage
while waiting for stitches
A nurse eats graham crackers
over the sink
without tasting them
Someone nearby
keeps trying to remember
the password
to their own life
If symptoms persist
continue anyway
After the Active Shooter Drill
We return immediately
to patient care
which feels important
to mention
The fake blood packets
are swept into biohazard bins
Someone jokes about
earning continuing education credit
for dying theatrically
In trauma room three
a respiratory therapist
untangles oxygen tubing
with the tenderness
of braiding a child’s hair
The overhead lights hum
A resident quietly asks
where we would actually hide
Nobody answers directly
Instead
someone restocks syringes
someone wipes fingerprints
from the code cart
someone reheats coffee
for the third time
At shift change
the simulation coordinator
forgets a mannequin
face down in the hallway
For almost an hour
everyone passes it
without stopping
to patient care
which feels important
to mention
The fake blood packets
are swept into biohazard bins
Someone jokes about
earning continuing education credit
for dying theatrically
In trauma room three
a respiratory therapist
untangles oxygen tubing
with the tenderness
of braiding a child’s hair
The overhead lights hum
A resident quietly asks
where we would actually hide
Nobody answers directly
Instead
someone restocks syringes
someone wipes fingerprints
from the code cart
someone reheats coffee
for the third time
At shift change
the simulation coordinator
forgets a mannequin
face down in the hallway
For almost an hour
everyone passes it
without stopping
Veronica Tucker is an emergency medicine and addiction medicine physician, mother of three, and lifelong New Englander. Her writing explores medicine, motherhood, resilience, and the quiet complexities of being human. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her work appears in ONE ART, The Berlin Literary Review, Rust & Moth, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, The House as Witness, is available now from Quillkeepers Press. She lives in New Hampshire, where she writes between shifts, long runs, and finely crafted matcha lattes.
Website: www.veronicatuckerwrites.com
Instagram: @veronicatuckerwrites
Website: www.veronicatuckerwrites.com
Instagram: @veronicatuckerwrites
