Africa Speaks Reasoning Forum

When I came,

She lay half-asleep in pain

At the sick and maim,

After her foot had sprained.


Around me, a concatenation of rooms lay,

In which sick humans stay, in which they die,

Where I went that day, hurrying my pace.


I found dreariness smeared on her face

And knew the silent death-pang in her fear,

Which sang a weakness in her voice,

But then I held her and was near.


I feared my tears would spill

In their Intensive Care Unit;

But even mine wouldn't heal,

At that expansive mega-clinic;

Instead, I felt my tears fail.


I caught some pining looks in her eye,

Could hear her troubled breath in my ear,

Which were nakedly written in her eye.


I saw a hidden message on the wall,

Then imagined the trouble in her soul;

Yet I knew she’d walk and be well.


I read a strange word above a door,

Scrawled boldly, as if to offer hope:

LEBENSRETTUNGS...: it stared at me;

And I glanced at it and just scoffed,

For what could a mere word mean

When simply sprawled upon a wall,

While a dear one here lay so frail?

I didn't get my queries solved,

But did regret my silly thoughts.


I sang a million words, then I stopped,

In that small, walled room binding us;

Then saw sleepless looks in her eyes,

And yet, a moment next, she had slept!


We sat inside the quiet of where she lay,

As she also sat - with her head raised,

In the small, neat room surrounding us,

Where I spent a short time and some words

As she strangely remained pale on her face:

The brow of her eye drooping weakly, sleepily.

Perhaps her tiredness was why she’d soon slept,

Then woken up sheepishly, mumbling easily

About how so often she sleepily escaped.


I gave her a loving smile, then I left her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

:-*