WHO IS THIS COMING DOWN THE HALL

ROBERT SEARLES

Who is this coming down
the hall
right hand on the rolling
iv pole
the gait reminds me of Han Shan
laughing poet
fat old Buddhist, tattered shirt
hand on staff
but you are skinny skinny and
not quite as bald

It's your walk, hand on the pole
like his on the staff,
feet a bit duck footed, flat footed.
a walk in the moment, around
the personnel, family members
extra chairs, medicine and computer
carts and charts on wheels
a path is a path
and you follow it.
the incarnation -- coming
to me
coming down the hall
coming along.

Robert Searles runs and writes in Hyde Park, Vermont.

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