It is why I shy away

It is why I shy away

Talking about complaints

The last procedure

The one coming up

After the shingles have cleared

My grandmother

Used to say she would die

If shingles travelled all the way around

Her body

I imagined a tyre tread over her back

Firestone or Goodyear

Everyone ups the ante

Looking out over the top

Of prescription glasses

Peeping through the cracks

In the warpaint

Too many people waiting to die

There is barely a man among them

The woman with the pink rinse

Has just winked

The doctor is running late

Monday morning surgery

279 people failed to attend

Their appointments in May

They would all come if they had to pay

It’s all different in Australia

Elsie in number twenty-seven

Pipes up

She has arthritis in her hands

Her daughter has private health

In Melbourne...hardly anybody waits

They all have fixed appointments

The buzz of incessant chatter

Cicadas in polyester

Conscious of my linen shirt and pants

I keep my counsel

What am I doing here

Retirement villages

For the recently bemused

Too many people waiting to die

Comparing lesions

‘My lump is bigger than your lump.’

As if the best one wins

A ticket to the bright lights

Paris Disney

Leaving the past behind

Giving it all away

To be seen as almost normal

Just for one day

A doctor’s appointment is an outing

Travelling together

In the village van

It has a logo

‘Sunshine villas

Superior homes for Super seniors’

I can’t wait.

Yes, I can.