rakan cop

you agree with people too easily
   I know

---

hospitals are by nature superstitious and emotional places. along a corridor with rows of peach coloured doors leading to innocuous rooms, a lady leans on a wall just outside the doorway, clutching her side with one hand and touching her mouth absently with the other. she stares off into the distance with dry and teary eyes that have seen no sleep. confusion and fear swim mingled in pools of regret and hope, reflected in the weathered creases fractured upon her face. a large middle aged man cradles a young girl in her twenties, sobbing softly. she is wearing a white formal blouse and matte grey skirt. her clothing is withered and wrinkled and her frame hunched and haggard. her arms have wilted, dangling at her sides like rope at the gallows. he pats her gently on the back as she rests her chin on his shoulder. her eyes are half open, glassy, as if watching a waking nightmare unfold. her stifled expressions of pain are enveloped by consolatory tenderness. his eyes are cast downwards, grimacing. shhh, it's okay. it's okay, he says

---

desperation and blame,
anxiety confounds all attempts
to grasp a rational thought
distraught, you begin to hate
even the colour of the wallpaper
as it tells you to be quiet and calm down
to get over it; this sort of thing happens all the time
the doctors are doing all they can
for you and the hundred other cases they see each day
that life goes on, just not for this one