A Day At The Hospital

[gregg rowe]

white room sterile walls
chrome steel egged shaped utensils
chilly winter's morn

I sit in the waiting room, watch him
puke -- security guard gets upset
tries to push him off to the washroom
and I empathize with this puking man
'cause there are times when I want to puke
all over the egg-white corridors
and on their shiny waxed polished floors,

but I am prideful and feel sorry --
this puking man sitting next to me
in a garbage can from the ID
unit -- spilling his guts out with germs
and I shiver in these infected
hallways and just wish I could go home --
leave these dis-eased infected people

puke green uniforms
rush by me in motional waves
I feel my abyss

afraid to walk out and catch the flu
or pneumonia that would kill me
unsettled; I feel nausea's wave
watch the puke green rush by -- hear the puke
come out next to me and I want to
be strong as the security guard
cautiously approaching us two

rush rush rushing and hear hear hearing
it rises and rises and I try
to stop and catch it before it'll spew
burning sensation -- stomach on fire --
pain in chest/back/legs -- the vile taste
I don't want to feel like an idiot
I really want this moment to pass

I feel the spring air
awash over my spirit
paint me egg-white walls
the puking stops and the man gets up --
leaves -- heads to the washroom wrenching a-
long the way and the white egg walls float
and my spirit uplifts to connect
as I visualize myself lying
on tepid sand and near desert caves --
with the serenade of the turquoise waves

Gregg Rowe
May 07,2006

[Dude]

Gregg, not sure I met you yet, but man, good stuff. Good to meet you. A lot of realism and rawness of imagery. Must have been a hell of a night. I relate in ways that bring me back to a night in the waiting room at the hospital (there were many through the years), and it was like I was sitting next to you watching it and feeling the very vibes you descrbe. Okay, I was the guy on the other  side of you, reading Popular Science. The one some sick guy was just reading and coughing all over. Now I'm in the bathroom washing my hands, and keeping the paper towel in hand as I grab the door handle.

I was a cab driver for three years and a drunken Spanish chika smiled in my face and did the projectile vomiting thing right on me and across my dashboard, as I turned her face to the window, holding her head by her hair, and the puke kept coming, on the radio, the meter, everywhere. I had to drag her, passed out, up to her door, and through her house, and plop her on the bed. I took just the cab fare and a $10 tip for the cleaning expenses, locked her door and drove to the car wash with my head out the window the whole way. Okay, I'm wandering, but I do that. The puke got me started. But anyway, you write deep, bro. The freakin' white walls drive me a bit nervy. I worked at the same hospital I was relating to, when I was younger. They put me through every floor on every wing, and I worked in the "Blue Room" (the morgue) for a couple of weeks, and in the psych ward a couple of weeks. It was a gas, but a lot of it was pretty creepy... the stainless steel and white walls, the smells of alcohol and some other euphoric nectar of some sort, bit of mold in the air, no doubt. There was a nympho chick that had a habit of walking out in the hall naked. Everyone tried to control her but she just liked doing it a lot. I liked it, I never complained once.

You'll get used to me eventually. But keep up the good stuff man.

[Hank's mom]

Greg -

I've been there and recognized it because your visuals are so right on the money. Nice work. You might want to send it to one of the health magazines, ie Liver Health. (Since you're in here I assume, you are a hepper too.)

I haven't seen you around before - welcome - this is a good place to land.

Susie

[gregg rowe]

Hi Susie and Dude!

This is my second day on this site and I saw the Creative Writing section and just about had an orgasm!     I can hardly wait to share some of my experiences of living with HepC and HIV for over twenty-five years.  Hope to see you around oin the site(s).

Gregg