Poem of the Month

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