The gift of a blank hallway

is the pictures you decorate it with

 

Ink moves along a canvas in a particular way

Like cars on a highway

Where the wet ends

It crashes

Metal to tree trunk

 

Antiseptic has imprinted on my senses

Leaving me staunch where it crosses

A memory of blood

Of gore and panic

To relive the trauma of a lifetime

 

I’ve met a lot of faces

Mothers in pain

Daughter’s crying out

The monitors are a steady reminder

 

12 leads to check the heart

Six minds to help the patient

Two hands to fix the issue

One mouth to report the news

And one shadow absorbing the chaos

 

In every case

There is one constant

The raw emotion of hope

The need to get better

Someone wants it

Somewhere

 

The gift of a blank hallway

is the pictures you decorate it with