In a doctor's waiting room 20.05.2011

The patients face each other

as if downstairs on a

double-decker bus


In this waiting room

there's some connection

that strings them together

unwillingly;

that reaches across discretion

unhappily;



In this place,

muteness  alone

speaks.


In this place, the posters

talk to us, read us their

stories, ask us questions.

'Meningitis and Septicaemia-the signs'.

'Health MOT. Are you due?'

'Back Ache? Frozen Shoulder?

Joints and Points now have three clinics

on the Wirral'.

'If you had blurred vision

and a sore throat, would you know

what to do?'

'Breast Milk.It's amazing'

On one poster, the joyful figure

of £1,000 has been reached in felt-tip

for the Kenya Camp.


In this place, there is not a single murmur,

though the statuesque wait on with

their small protests; a cough here,

a shuffle there, a vacant stare,

the flipping of a mobile,

a rearrangement of clothing.

A man in workboots grunts

as he rises to the siren call,

heads for the red crisis LED lights.


In this place,

muteness alone

screams the truth.