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Poet Jack MacDonald writes: Blue is about an overdose I witnessed at Porter Square station. It was recently featured at the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare’s 30th Anniversary Gala. MacDonald is a Boston-based writer and overdose prevention advocate. He is a master’s student at Harvard Medical School and 2024 Public Health Voices fellow for the Harvard LGBTQ Health Center of Excellence. Jack graduated from Boston College and has been published in Out Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Website: https://jackmacdonald.carrd.co/

Blue

Doors open
A blur of movement
Crouching
Dusty tile
A silent shout
I take off my headphones
Blue skin
Is she breathing?

One dose already up the nose
She has not come to
I’ve never seen skin
So clammy
So blue
I’ve never seen a needle
In an arm before

Nurse from my train
Both
Blue shorts
Running shoes
Assess the stranger
Listen for breath
Hit the help button
Upheaval

She’s on her side
Needle on tile
Vomit on nurse
Blue skin, scabbed blue skin
She is upright
And scared
We are scared

— Jack MacDonald

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