The Hospital Emergency Room

You have tentatively entered a place of no other

alternatives, an unwelcome involuntary decision

a place of desolate remoteness, of rumoured

dread in anticipation of concerning revelations

in explanation of a condition whose source has

brought you there. A large, open chamber with

regimented seating and it hosts people young

and old, drooping, heads nodding on chests

hands gripping armrests, some in pain and 

others suffering the pain of insecurity and fear.

There are items arrayed in the open corridor

where a line of glass-enclosed cubicles are

numbered, their purpose unknown. Where on 

display protective masks, rubber gloves, tissues

and hand sanitizers beg to be used under signage

informing their mandatory purpose. Some do others 

refuse.Your immediate destination is a kiosk to

register, where a  triage nurse evaluates your 

condition and symptoms to assign a designated 

classification reflecting the urgency of your visit. 

A large video screen displays the moving target of 

physician availability while the timeline informs a 

five-hour wait is yours. Those seated in rows awaiting

treatment studiously look anywhere but at one

another, shuffle feet, hunch shoulders, look

downward, while some seem delusional and

manic and at every angle stand tall, muscular

black-uniformed young security personnel. The

loud windy sound of the air conditioning system

resembles a mass of human voices in a chorus of

ambient sound. The floor appears grimy, an aura

of despair permeates the atmosphere. A young

woman huddles within a warmed hospital blanket

her face a changing display of physical pain

alternating with mental anguish. A young man

in garish socks, trousers and flapping shirt stands 

and twirls a strange smirk of triumph flickering on 

and off as he pirouettes. Bare bandaged arms, legs

craniums tell the story of some arrivals. The sound

of the ER's opening outer door shrieks like a hawk 

after prey. One by tedious one, names are called, people

grasp possessions and hurriedly follow attendants 

down endless corridors to examination rooms for

further queries, give blood samples, take tests, but  

their tribulation is not over. Few doctors are available 

to manage the dire needs of the waiting public so that

interminable wait remains suspended while pain and 

fear fail to abate even as sufferers submit and endure.