Waterworks
Is this what it has come down to?
To sit here with the others
In a crowded clinic waiting room
Full of failing bodies
Dotted among the rows of wipe-clean chairs
A parking lot of walking-frames and sticks
All here for the same reason
Worrying signs in their water-works
A range of plumbing problems
For the doctors to diagnose and fix
And nurses come and go
With their files and folders
Discreetly carrying urine samples
And the bladder test results
From patients in the toilets
Peeing and passing
Measuring inputs and outputs
After drinking endless cups of water
It’s a part of getting older
Politely called urology
But there’s little dignity
In such a personal problem
And little comfort
In the unbidden thought
That it might be cancer come to call
Or a breaking down of organ function
Perhaps another milestone
Towards journey’s end
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