Children’s Hospital, Waiting Room

From this side of this window-

through this glass looking

down seventeen stories  -

the world is a odd place.

.

The smell of rain

has become a distant memory.

Taxi cabs – thick bugs.

People- so much seed

scattered on a hard path.

.

Who would have thought

a tiny swish rising

through a stethoscope

could so change  everything.

.

Here we are a congregation

Of the suspended –

Inhabitants of a sanitized purgatory -

A communion of those who wait.

.

Here the priests and prophets

wear blue scrubs

and white paper masks.

.

Why, I ask, is it that your tiny heart,

no larger than your tiny hand,

should refuse to grow?

What providence has brought us here?

What karma? There is no answer

.

so we wait.

We wait for our names to be called.

We wait.

About these ads

20 Responses to Children’s Hospital, Waiting Room

      • you are sweet gentleman,

        when kids are small, they get sick a lot..I feel no shame sharing it…

        cheers to you.
        Happy Sunday!

        Feel Free to submit any poem to our potluck and enjoy some encouragements you deserve!

        your support is valued.
        stay blessed.

  1. This is so emotionally gripping. You using metaphors related to a congregation, to communion, to clergy, to redemption is striking and effective. This makes me want to know what happened. I’m assuming this is written from experience and my prayers are with the child and those who love him.

  2. I too was struck by the religious symbolism mentioned in an earlier comment, and the way you used it to capture so well the hope, the prayers, the desperation of parents praying for a favorable outcome.

  3. Bill, there is that sense that a hospital is its own universe – separate from the day-to-day. You captured that brilliantly. Having spent time recently in The Hosptial for Sick Chidren in Toronto because of a great-nephew’s illness, I am truly grateful for those who dedicate their lives to helping others to heal.

  4. Pingback: The Celebrate Poet of Spring in 2011 Awards Nomination Accouncement | Promising Poets' Parking Lot

  5. Bill, I was immensely moved by this poem… children are such innocent souls that I honestly believe that they just DON’T deserve to be in hospitals and they DON’T deserve to have to go through pain of any kind… It almost seems unfair…

    But then again, that’s the way it is.. and we can hope and pray that these little children find their peace and recover from their illnesses, and enjoy a long and blissful life ahead…

  6. I could have sworn that I commented on this, Bill. Sorry.

    It is a lovely poem and touches the heart.
    “The people … so much seed scattered on a hard path.” Truth.

    … and we all do waiting. Wonderful, Bill. I’d like to repost it with your permission on:
    intothebardo.wordpress.com/

    Let me know -
    jamiededes@rocketmail.com

    Thanks, Bill!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s