Commenter Cazfans asks:

[Y]ou don’t by any chance have any “thank-you doctor for your skills and services” type poems hidden away in your ink bladder do you? Living in the Deep South, and getting older, I would like a poetic way to thank the docs and leave the dog out of it.

A brilliant idea. Too brilliant to be selfish about*, so here’s my first draft, which I hereby explicitly make available to anyone who wants to use it (exception: you can’t simply steal it for profit–you can edit, and you can add, but you can’t screw people over). I see the first stanza on the outside of the card, and the rest on the inside, with plenty of room left for you to personalize it for your own particular hospital heroes.

I’ve heard I had an angel who was watching over me
And who saw my operation safely through
But the heroes and the heroines, as far as I can see
Had no wings attached—and so, I’m thanking you.

Thank the doctors and the nurses, the technicians, and the staff
Thank their teachers, too, for all that they have done
Thank the EMTs and drivers, thank the folks who made me laugh
Thank the donors—even those who think it’s fun.
Thank the people on computers making sure it all goes well
Thank the bureaucrats who made it go at all
Thank the people I’ve forgotten (likely more than I can tell)
Thank you, all of you, for answering my call.

I have a few photos that could go along with this, but not on this computer. If you make any, please share them here!

(If you have suggestions for categories, or for rhymes, feel free to send them. Can you improve on my rhyme? I don’t doubt it for a minute–but if you can, do! What other situations need atheist thank you–or other–cards?)

*This is why I never make any money off of my poems.