Friday November 11, 2016 (Black Friday)
- Friday November 11, 2016 (Black Friday)
Doors
I'm lying on a trolley, waiting.In a pasture as green as the Green in Gables.At the far edge are seven doors, closed, no walls, justdoors etched against a cloudless sky.Come night, I'll be pushed through one of them.
Testing
I'm testing with my tongue: the taste of the paint on thewalls of this corridor; the noise in the rooms on either side;the smell of the nurse who is speaking to me.So far so good.I can take a few more steps.
The Measure of a Man
What are they saying, the whisperers out in the corridor?Something about 20 fingers long, 5 wide.Lying here in my bed unable to sleep, am I 20 fingers long, 5 wide?Of course it depends how long the fingers in question are.Mine, apparently, are average.So if the fingers in question are not average then thewhispering could be about someone else, about some otherpatient in this hospital for incurable insomniacs.
Page
I've been here for three days. I've been waiting for someoneto come into this room & turn the page. [End Page 109]
Philip Hammial has published thirty poetry collections. His poems have appeared in thirty-one poetry anthologies in five countries and in 120 journals in fourteen countries. He has represented Australia at fourteen international poetry festivals, most recently at Poetry Africa 2016. In 2009–10, he was the Australian writer-in-residence at the Cite International des Arts in Paris.
