Afflicted by the assurance
of tomorrow,
begets the experience,
sterilises potential,
and starves us of possibility.
All that has occurred,
will again and again.
Such a premise – not hope,
but complacency,
and reason to justify the past.
Today will always be
the moment you’ve been waiting for.
Time exists at no other time,
than the present –
oh, how the lazy mind
gets us every time!
A health complaint
drove me to the doctor,
who said I looked like a regular shopper,
but I swore – I was just a visitor.
Which pills do you prefer?
he asked with great assumption.
I couldn’t care less, I said
as long as they’re for human consumption.
With the rise of his eyebrows
and a wry smile,
he made me feel like a child,
but who was I to tell him otherwise?
He scribbled on pen and paper,
no better than a toddler,
understood only by those who guard pharmaceuticals
and look down upon the customer.
I handed in my prescription,
to a teller dressed up as a nurse,
though all she could really do,
was telly up the bill.
I waited and waited,
from one waiting room to the next.
I am sick and they sadistically leave me here,
to be patient?
By the time I reach my wits end,
the teller tells me it’s ready,
though she keeps her distance,
she doesn’t know what I have to give.
‘The goods’ are slipped into a plain brown paper bag,
they protect their reputation,
by respecting my privacy,
after all, they don’t know where I’m coming from.
I follow the instructions,
and take my medicine.
No better with it,
no better without it.
The sea air arouses my senses,
a heightened sense of being
wraps around me
as I look out to sea.
The horizon centres me,
complications simplify,
the trivial dissipate,
as I begin to sink into the sand.
The sun is warm – comforting
as though I had arrived home,
and all my loved ones were there to greet me,
the sea throws itself at the beach to welcome me back.
Time stops – it becomes superficial,
there’s nowhere to go,
no one else to be –
I am ageless here.
I plunge into the waves,
it is cooler than it looks,
I want to stay under water forever,
never surface again.
I exhale when I’m forced to,
resurface to take in more of that sea air.
I feel now this greeting is nearly over,
so I tread-water
to make the most of my time here.
Lewis Walddren 