Withdrew from several magazines a poem that’s funny and angry and profane and has to do with rage over a physical exam, which I had submitted weeks ago. Why? Because, at this point in time, it seems really inappropriate to have out for consideration something that is even jokingly negative about healthcare provides.

The worst thing about a surreal state (not unlike the morning after the presidential election of 2016, mind you) is damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

You must not pretend things are normal; if you do, you are blind or delusional or insensitive.

You must not focus on anything other than the train wreck du jour; if you do, you are blind or delusional or insensitive.

You must not spend all the time on current events; if you do, it warps your psyche and sends even the mentally toughest among us into a spiral of doom.

This all sucks and it looks like we’re in it for the next few months. What a mess.