1996

Hospital visit

No one is sleeping.
All the pills, the injections
And still no one is sleeping.
Eyes are made bright with apprehension
The bars on the beds are embraced
by our hands.
They writhe out their caresses:
‘We are imprisoned’ whispers their sign language.
‘Release us’

No white knights venture forth
to defend us.
No one can see us
Through the paper forests and flowers,
Musty now in the sunshine.
The scented rose petals have
divorced themselves from their stems
Still no one sleeps
Still no one sleeps

We are breathing.
The lily pollen stains the curtains
Where they swish to a close against the sunlight.
It heats our skin to prickled heat.
We can’t close our eyes
Close them now?
Open them again?
Tomorrow is a day distant
We are intimate with our fears.

We shan’t close our eyes.
We shan’t sleep,
Tomorrow is only a day distant
On the horizon
Red daybreak dawn
after the night
After the daylight
Tomorrow is a day distant
No one is sleeping