HOSPITAL CANTEEN

 

I’m sat in the hospital canteen

Where all of life can be seen

I look at people around me

With coffee’s or cups of tea

A couple are sharing a laugh

Are they visitors or staff?

A man sits staring into space

Red eyes in a tired drawn face

Is someone that he cares for

No longer with us anymore

Someone close to death or dead

Or worse terminally ill instead

Maybe he’s visiting a survivor

Or a new mum on the top floor

A lot of staff use the facilities

Doctors’ nurses or ancillaries

Is this a fresh day beginning?

Or a long night shift ending

There’s an outpatient I can see

Could be for x-ray physio or ENT

Two security men both partake

Drinking coffee and eating cake

A young paramedic wander’s in

Buys a coffee and is gone again

Tables clear and are then refilled

By a group of men who build

So why am I sat here observing?

Its what I do when I’m not serving