See You Soon Unvaccinated Ones: a Poem from a Health Care Professional

by Michael Burns, DNAP, CRNA

I may be the last person you see alive

I will be there to listen to you tell your parents and children goodbye

See you Soon

As I drift you off to sleep in preparation for the breathing machine, I will pray for you and I

Meanwhile others are still having heart attacks, strokes and other medical and surgical

Emergencies along with babies and mothers still in need

But, I will see you soon

The free will of man triumphs again

Free to choose no vaccine and freedom to choose uncertainty or even death

See you soon

I was hopeful we would not meet like this

I volunteered and administered vaccines to avoid us meeting, but you did not show

See you soon

I will always carry your memory the rest of my life

Remembering your farewells, tears, and the anxiety I felt for you and your family

See you soon

Professor Michael Burns is an assistant professor in the department of nurse anesthesia at Webster University and also works as the director of anesthesia at Phelps Health, where a majority of the CRNAs are Webster alumni. Over the past few months, he has documented a surge in unvaccinated patients primarily under the age of 60. He and several Webster University alumni are working in the Phelps Health ICU and Emergency Departments to assist with the surge of Covid and non-covid related patients in the community. Earlier this year, Michael and several Webster nurse anesthesia students volunteered with the St. Louis City Public Health Department to administer vaccines at Union Station, St. Louis Community College, Webster University, and the Omega Center in St. Louis.