Saying something to her mother, unheard by others, or is it her
Grandmother, an obese woman on a portable oxygen tank.
They wait for a doctor or for a test or for an outpatient operation to
Find out – What or to cure what? They wait with vacant eyes to
Find out the news or maybe they know the news.
(I muse. If you know the news, is it still news?)
Quiet, waiting, looking, mostly staring into space as time passes by.
A few are looking at old magazines. Some stare at their lap.
But they too will vacantly stare into space.
Every so often, a name is called by a cheerful nurse.
Without joy, someone gets up, perhaps accompanied by a spouse or
Someone else, and walks to a door, passing inside.
Sometimes someone comes out of that door and quietly walks to
The exit, without comment, and none asked for. Was there
Good news or bad news or will another visit be needed to get news?
For the rest of us, we wait in the waiting room.
Written December 2005
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