Watching The Pitt In Perilous Times
I need to know now if Dr. Robby dies
in a motorcycle crash, helmetless
while on his sabbatical or worse,
ends up in a vegetated state. I need
to know now because there is just
so much grief I can manage. See,
I’m still processing Gary dying
in a car crash on Thirtysomething,
in episode fourteen, season four, 1991,
and haven’t yet recovered from Adriana’s
assasination on The Sopranos,
episode twelve, season five, 2004.
I’m prepared to lose Paul in Shrinking.
Although it breaks my heart, I’ve known
from the beginning that Paul suffers
from Parkinson’s and he’s getting on in age
but losing Dr. Robby, I can’t accept that.
I don’t appreciate all the foreshadowing
of Robby on his motorcycle without
a helmet, Robby talking about his bike
to other doctors, or with his therapist.
I’ve been hoarding Yitzkor candles*
and printed out the Mourner’s Kaddish**
although truthfully I’m sure, like Dr. Robby,
I know it by heart, what with myriad losses
multiplying month by month—only the honorable
taken while the worst walk freely, trampling
decency, and leaving everything in their lane
lifeless or desperate to survive.
I’m going to need a trigger warning
before the final episode or preferably
for the writers to have a change of heart.
Even better, tell me I’m wrong. Can
someone do that for me? Please?
*memorial candles lit in Jewish homes to honor deceased loved ones.
**a Jewish prayer of praise for G-d recited by those grieving a loss.
Laurie Rosen is a lifelong New Englander. Her poetry has appeared in One Art: a journal of poetry, Gyroscope Review, Oddball Magazine, The New Verse News, Minyan Magazine, The Inquisitive Eater: New School Food, Zig Zag Lit Mag, and elsewhere. Laurie was nominated for a 2025 Pushcart Prize.
The Marbled Sigh 