1)
Treading in their God’s footsteps
They crush through the doors,
White coats swinging
Eager faces shining
Adoring eyes gleaming.
Hanging on his every word
Like limpets on craggy rocks,
Clinging in devotion
Afraid of rejection
And group humiliation,
They nod in orchestrated unison
As the great man expounds.
Flying over the head
Of the specimens in each bed
Who are living not dead,
Yet like samples in test tubes
They are powerless to comprehend.
And only want to know at the end
When
Will
They
Get
Home?
2)
Here and there
Wriggling feet
Under a sheet
So tightly bound
That even the mattress
Gasped for air.
3)
She walked the corridors
With a swish of her gown
In the early morning light.
Holding hands with the dying
Bringing hope to the lost
A figure of calm through the night.
As the daylight rushed in
And the wards came to life
It was time to end her round.
So she turned on her heels
And soared through the wall
To the place where her soul was bound.
Olivia Begbie