In The Doctor's Waiting Room
"as if she had discovered
the train was bound somewhere
as if the conductor
had told everyone on board
they never had to bear the weight
of being strong again."
from the poem "Medicine"
by Tony Hoagland
It is like being in a railway
station, suddenly amnesic, unsure I have
arrived or embarking on a new
journey.
On the wall a clock
that keeps station time, brusque hands
flagging away the hours, the minutes
and the seconds surgically.
The patients are like
passengers, shoulders drooping from the weight
of excess luggage, a overnight bag
of lost dreams, a suitcase full
of travellers' vertigo, a trunk bulging
with memory aids and a map
showing roads of varicosities running from
volcanic ankles to mount Fuji knees.
Nearby the dispensary, where patients purchase
tickets, Anti-Histamines for a cold trip,
Anti-Hypertensives to high pressure destinations, Valium
to Nirvana, Cytotoxics to the Middle-East
of a malignant continent.
But what of my own
journey? Will it
be like the sleepers running until
the South tracks meet the North
station?
Or will there be a
whiplash braking, a molten steel screeching
as wheels burn rails, a shearing
of the flesh of my dreams
from the bone of my sleep-walking
and two slippers, strewn on sleepers
announcing my arrival at the station
where the
parallel lines
finally
m
e
e
t
?
 | This poem is for my daughters (Cheryl-Lyn abd Andrea) and sons-in-law (Andy and Kay) , all four doctors working in the UK, and for son Jay (who just graduated from Limkokwing), granddaughters Mimi,Bibi,and wife Via, Gods beautiful gifts to me, unworthy as I am to receive them.... |
 | It's an incredible screech at the end there! Wonderful descriptions of the waiting room experience, as difficult as it can sometimes be. |
| Does anybody know here Aurora is hiding, she was always the first to read my posts, it would be easier if she has a blog where I can go to and I am waiting for her poems.......... |
| I think she must be quite occupied - and imagine there is a good reason for her not to be appearing more, as much as she loves writing - lots of us miss her, anyway. |
 | I like to read you expressing "your" feelings. I was i tears by the time I got to "of lost dreams, a suitcase full of travellers' vertigo, a trunk bulging...." profoundly universal, I'd say... wonderfully expressed, as always. I never exchanged words with Aurora, but have not seen her around for perhaps a couple of months. Speaking for myself - some of us creative types do need to close off from everyone in order to access what is within... she might be in a "creative cocoon". I am going into one myself these days, although not vanishing completely. Kianseng, do keep an eye from time to time on this new "gang" I just joined http://museartspot.blogspot.com/A pleasure to visit, love and joy to you both lovely pic. hibiscus? |
 | TO ME IS A 'TWO' WAY TRAFFIC - BEAUTIFUL GIFTS - BOTH WAYS. |
 | Great verse! It makes my head spin! I’ll sleep it over… It makes me long for ‘my arrival at the station where the parallel lines finally meet’ |
 | Is this something you had in your mind, Plus Ultra? Anyway, a very interesting adventure, these new pages of yours!
Tikkis from Turku, Finland.
I like poems. The shorter, the better? Published several collections of poetry in Finnish.
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| The shorter, the better?
Not necessarily. |
 | Wonderful poem about the complexities of illness, healing, and waiting. I particularly enjoyed the metaphor of the train. Thanks for sharing.
And yes, you may post my poem, "Children, do not mourn the snow" if you like! It's very kind of you to ask. Glad you liked it.
-Christine |
 | Finally found you - thanks for leaving your url on my blog! I love this new site - your creativity is inspiring and your words so insightful, the imagery cutting through to the truth. Love it!!! |
 | Hi Kianseng: Here is my profile. Name: Tiel Aisha Ansari I am a Sufi, poet, martial artist and computer programmer living in the USA. You can read my poetry at http://knockingfrominside.blogspot.com/ I hope to have a book of poems published this year. |
 | Kianseng: My profile is a bit long, but feel free to cut, past, chip-chop, add your own opinions, and choose any one of my poems to display. My website is www.eatingpoetry.com which is the same thing as www.poetsdinner.blogspot.com.
My Profile:
EatingPoetry.com was founded by Khaya in the summer of 2005, while playing Capture the Flag with a group of Teach NY Fellows she encountered in Prospect Park. Watching grown men and women run around like children gave her the insight that no one is too old to access their inner child… whether for creative purposes or just for fun.
Khaya has been writing poetry consistently since she was nineteen, when a college literature professor persuaded her not to transfer colleges-- that if she stayed where she was, he would conduct a creative writing class (an “every few years” event). After participating in the class, Khaya’s muses were awakened and they’ve grown and taken on lives of their own ever since.
In writing poetry, Khaya’s goal is to inspire, and if she manages to touch at least one person in a positive fashion, you might just hear her purring.
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| Hi, Everybody, I have been getting messages on my email and on my old blog that there was no provision for comments and they could not post here at my multiply site. It is easy, scroll down to the botton of the blog or whatever item (photo, prose, review, link) you are reading and you see " share and reply "at the right bottom corner, click on "reply" and a" compose" window appears, key in your comments and then "submit reply", bless you and yours,kianseng |
| Hi Kianseng! Please excuse this for letter, I'm not sure how else to email you, and I'm trying to reach everyone who participated in last week's blog carnival. Dear Bard: Bob Marcacci at MiPo Radio (( http://www.miporadio.net/BOB_MARCACCI/) has a poetry podcast called The Countdown. He'd like me to record the collage "First Things First" that I did for the last Ringing. I told him I would, but that I'd need the permission of the contributors (I consider your submission to the carnival as a one-time license, not an unlimited-reuse license). I think this would be a great thing for the Ringing and for everyone who contributed... but I do feel it's important to respect creative ownership. So please let me know ASAP whether you're OK with it, either by reply to this email or with a comment here: http://knockingfrominside.blogspot.com/2007/03/bards-heads-up.htmlBy the way, Bob said he would be interested in other pieces from my blog as well, so if you're hesitant, don't feel you have to agree for my sake. Thanks again for contributing: it wouldn't have been the carnival it was without you. Tiel |
 | what a beautiful metaphoric...eclipse.....I love this , strong in meaning yet light and flowing are the words.....most wonderful to discover a fellow poet!...Thank you for your comments I will be back! |
| Hello, Thanks, did you read my request on your site, What a beautiful blog you have, I wish I could do what you did, I want to link you and get my blogging buddies to read you and see you, thanks |
 | Kianseng - Sorry, I've been out of the blog world for a while, so I am finally getting back to you. I would love to be included in your links. Here's the profile for Stripped: Stripped poetry ( http://strippedpoetry.blogspot.com) has poems by myself, Louise Richardson and my closest friend, Madame B. I am a mother, writer, and photographer. The world inside my windows gives me a lot to write about. I try to savor life through art, sprinkling in extra seasoning when needed. I live my life according to the coffeepot. |
| Hello Louise, Welcome back and I am waiting for more poetry from you and MB. |
 | Hello, Thanks again, for giving me this opportunity. It’s truly an honor. I’m sorry for being late in fulfilling this obligation. I’m not that good in writing profiles but this is my attempt. Hope you like it .. You had asked to attach my best poem but I felt it was too long.. also I have created a new blog, and intend to devote it on poetry more seriously .. so I’m not sure which one you would like to add here .. --- For a megalomaniac, whose world starts with I, and ends with myself, writing a profile shouldn’t be tough, but it actually is. I look at life, neither with censure nor with approbation. You can call me fast, you can call me free, but underneath all my despair is a passionate woman. I stem from adventures and have a strong taste for disaster, perhaps all this reflects in my writing. I am not yet a full-fledged poet. I’ll keep evolving. I haven’t published any inditing so far, apart from a fistful of sketchy articles in the local newspapers. I wish to exalt the pleasure of flesh and soul at the same time and in the process, create all kind of melodies, some gay, some sad, some with festive chants of rejoicing and some with mournful tune of the prayers for the dead. However melancholia, invariably gives me a perplexing high and that is what, I so exuberantly celebrate. There isn’t any masterpiece in my blog, http://terminal-moraine.blogspot.com , no cornucopia of invention but nonetheless it contains pieces of my wrath and wanderings .. all are welcome to drop by and an honest opinion is more than welcome.. My favorite poetry so far, is the one titled Ablution on my previous blog.. http://rustic-rhapsody.blogspot.comIt’s a bit lengthy, the last paragraph reads as .. “You are not mine But I’m still yours And with me my love, Sin is cleansing.” ‘.. not till we have lost world, do we begin to find ourselves .. (Thoreau)’ _ _ Aria_ _ |
| I just re-read this poem
I felt new. It moved me again.
This time my interest turned more towards you... (?)
Hope to find you well my friend, long time without news. |
| Yes, I am in the process of preparing to publish my fourth book of poetry, entitled "Another Kind Of Magic", long delayed, by procrastination, send me your postal address by email and I will send you a copy as soon as it rolls off the press... |
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