DURING THIS VISIT

I am a layman laid up
with a very dodgy ankle

that winced about Paris
for almost a week with

every footaghhhhhhhfall.

Now it's the A&E;
for me.

The electronic noticeboard
flashes up its what nots

faster than I
can scan.

I barely catch CQC
Good( shadow )Rating.

Two wheelchairs
(peopleless)
chat about the this of that

typical wheelchair chit-chat.

A portable X-ray machine
pretends to be a giraffe.

"oooooOOOOK...we are going to get
Geoff the Giraffe to have a look at that!"

The child smiles
through the pain.

The screen peppers me
with possibilities.

Extremely likely?
Neither Likely nor Unlikely?
Etc., etc., etc.

My mind opts for
a simple I Don't Know.

"Breast." says the screen."

"Max Fax & Orthodontics."

"Re-hab shouldn't be boring!"

A questionnaire asks me
to think.

Big mistake.

I start to think.

Pain & Boredom
turns these hospitalised facts

( what ever they mean? )

into a something only
my brain can understand.

"And now, straight in at No.!
with a fantastic new single it's...

...Max Fax & The Orthodontics
with the glorious bouncy

BREAST!"

"MORTALITY by
The Upper Quartile

falls down one place to
No. 2!"

My shadow is feeling
very poorly at this

instant
in time.

Hasn't even bothered
to turn up.

There goes my good
(shadow)rating.

I think I'll switch
to silhouette instead.

I practice my Ogham.

SAT 4 APRIL
says the clock.

It's hands joined
together in prayer.

I switch
off my mind &

float
down
stream.