Florence Nightingale — The Lamp and the Ledger
1 She walked halls of groans with a lamp and a list, counting as if counting could heal.
2 She charted death into diagrams until generals had to learn arithmetic.
3 At first she trusted miasma more than microbes; still she scrubbed the world clean enough for truth to land.
4 She was exacting, even hard; compassion, to her, kept schedules.
5 Her flaw was also her engine: control enough to force chaos to wash its hands.
6 Hospitals became factories of healing; outcomes, not opinions, paid the wages.
7 Remember the lamp, but learn the ledger: mercy that measures will multiply.
8 Honor the builders who make tomorrow survive the night.