Waiting Room

An impression, on visiting an elderly relative in the hospital.

watching
crooked clock on off-white wall
waiting for you to go

you, wrapped in blue flannel
going out the way you came in
in the original packaging
like a returned rental item
no refund or exchange

if the last i see of you is your face
smiling beside the window
beside that vast expanse of field and trees and sky
the smile that filled a century
then i can ask for no more

i will wait with you
watching
the off-white wall and its crooked clock
until it is time to go