The Hospital Waiting Room


there’s a fake sky in the ceiling,
and my toes are so cold they fall off.
They’ve fallen and they run to the woman crying a few seats away from me
I think it’s her shoulder that’s causing her pain
but I’m not quite sure
she looks colder than I am
I hope her daughter’s okay
there’s a guy playing TikToks at a loud volume
you can see the nurses getting annoyed
but every now and then he goes to get a lady water
it’s actually really cute
I wonder if they’re married
the lady screams
“my shoulder”
“my fucking shoulder”
I wonder how she hurt it
I wonder if my toes will ever return to me



Biography: Poetry, as Robin Williams puts it in 'Dead Poets Society', is something that keeps us alive. I have written poetry for as long as I can remember—not always eloquent or thoughtful, but the practice of writing and understanding poetry was always something I loved to do. Over the last two years of my university education, my love for writing, reading and understanding poetry has only grown and I am excited to explore the art further throughout my third year and further education.