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

G-4Z42WL1Q75