The Home

By: Peony

I come, I go

I smile, I say hello

Baleful eyes trapped in crippled bodies

Knarled knuckles clutching canes

Every shuffle like arthritic snails

They sit, and watch, and wait.

I come, I go

I smile, I say hello
 

Hushed whispers of missing friends

Last seen in an ambulance

Was it a month ago, or three?

Rooms emptied, soon reoccupied
 

I come, I go

I smile, I say hello
 

So many activities, so little time

Bingo, bridge, and gentle fit

Plus tea and cakes at ten and three

They sit, and watch and wait.
 

I come, I go

I smile, I say hello
 

Beneath shared pleasantries

Deep yearnings etched

In yet deeper lines

Oozing collective loneliness
 

I come, I go

I smile, I say hello