there's a room just off
the main emergency hallway
called the quiet room
small and dimly lit
couches out of style a decade ago
and what I assume is supposed to be
calming paintings of landscapes
abstract shapes in soothing blues
I spent two days there once
waiting to hear
what would happen to you
expecting you to wake up
I was going to tease you about
how you had five pretty doctors
attending to you
tell you about how the shelf you built
only a week ago, got a compliment
but instead we never spoke again
and I had to carry on
the burden of living