MALINGERER?

Framed in a toilet doorway,

A ragged man stands

He wears old shoes,

Sand stained,

Salvaged from a builder’s skip.

He watches the traffic of people

Scurrying along

The hospital corridors.

One hobbles on crutches

Another walks with a frame,

Some are pushed by porters

Riding prone in beds

Or seated in wheelchairs.

The ragged man waits

For doctors and nurses.

When they pass

He staggers

But does not quite fall

He shakes his arms

And head convulsively.

Doctors and nurses

Hold and support him

Place him in a chair

Cover him with a blanket

Cause sandwiches to appear

The ragged man eats the sandwiches

And begs for more.

He rests for several hours

But doctors and nurses

Eventually decide

That he must return to the cold

Outside the warm hospital

Where he wants to stay

As more and more people

Limp, hobble, stagger,

Or are pushed and  carried in

Wishing they could be

Somewhere else

Wishing they weren’t here

Where the ragged man

Wants to stay warm and fed .