September 2019
Alexa in the surgery center? Really? I suppose it’s better than having a shouting match or game show on the TV, but it seems out of place. It could be a distraction where distraction can help, but who will air their questions among strangers who are deep in their own thoughts? Perhaps if you are alone it is some comfort, but no electronic voice can replace the comfort of casual conversation between strangers whose only connection is a shared fear for a loved one in surgery. September’s POM is my take on sharing the waiting room with a “smart clock” on the wall.
Poem of the Month
In the Surgery
High on the waiting room wall
The clock wears a silent smirk
Condescending
Superior
No friend of mine;
No tic-tic-tic of a sturdy time piece
Doing honest work,
Steady
Dependable
Knowable.
Tic, Tic, Tic… Time’s heartbeat,
Now a curiosity
Replaced by this cold stranger
With the face of time
But the ears of a fennec
Always listening;
A tunnel to infinite facts
Offering neither knowledge nor understanding;
A crutch that devours learning.
Portal to a sterile new world,
It has no place here
Where we wait while doctors labor
And knives slice behind closed doors.
She marks the passage of time,
Yet for all her answers, the oracle on the wall
Cannot answer the questions that haunt us here.
Lee Alloway 2019
Each month Ancient Eagle Press offers a poem appropriate to the season or the mood of our editorial staff. Poems may be new or drawn from existing AEP editions.
Ancient Eagle Press
Where Old Fliers Come to Roost
Archives
August 2019 - The Cousins
July 2019 -- Chilly
June 2019 -- The Queen of Malvern
April-May 2019 -- India/Bhutan
March 2019 -- Swatting Gnats
February 2019 -- To My Valentines, Past and Future
January 2019 -- I'll Never Say Goodbye
December 2018 -- Grandpa
November 2018 -- Meditation
October 2018 -- Benediction
September 2018 -- Passages
August 2018 -- Feeding the Beast
July 2018 - One Can Have Knowledge...
June 2018 -- The Unsinkable Molly Drown
May 2018 -- Advice to my Grandson
April 2018 -- Awaiting Idunn
March 2018 -- Flight
February 2018 -- Lakesong
January 2018 -- Schrödinger's Cat
December 2017 -- Daybreak
October 2017 -- Night Watch
September 2017 -- The Princess
August 2017 - Pelham
July 2017 -- Siena
June 2017 -- Loyal, Straight, and True
May 2017 -- A Thousand Flowers
April 2017 -- Oboe Rap
March 2017 - March Madness
February 2017 -- The Cost of Doing Business
January 2017 -- Reflection at a Winter Window
December 2016 -- The Creation
November 2016 -- Hemolymph Moon
October 2016 -- Vortex
September 2016 -- Do You?
August 2016 -- Sailing
July 2016 -- Mulberries
June 2016 -- Off Tucker Point
May 2016 -- Unforgettable
April 2016 -- At Night She Cries