Flowers always Bloom: My day in the hospital

By Jane Mary Kurian

A cough, A sneeze. And-

I knew what I was looking at.

A Hospital, with floors swept in Eve’s time,

walls boasted of cobwebs, Paans and gums .

“A government hospital indeed,” I said.

I joined the queue to consult the doctor,

But the queue grew larger and larger

Yet patience lived among the patients.

It might be dusk when the name gets called

Yet there’s hope that it would get called.

Hence, I stood there with all my neighbours.

The time’s ticking away, faster and faster,

So did the casualty room near me grew larger-

With bruises and fractures and deaths by night.

So did new friendships in the Queue-

Starting from what’s your disease to –

What might be your disease tomorrow..

While the disease horoscopes and theories got busy,

The day ran faster crossing its 24hour limits.

Finally, my name was called. “Breathe..”

I stepped in and came out with a list,

Yet still confused on whether the doctor-

Had cared to look up from his note to my face.

“I don’t know. Still I got a list in my hand.”

But Before stepping out of the premises,

I turned back and offered a smiling goodbye-

To my new-found friends. Then, I stepped out,

To find a shop working 27hours a day..

Because my day in the hospital-

Had crossed 24hours limit, my friend!!!

Flowers always Bloom