Poem - MAG Poetry Prize 2010
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children
by
London, UK
A faded Rainbow
Positioned and pasted in high window
Pressing desperately on the glass
Scratches on paper
Made by little fingers
Clutching pink felt tip
A memoir they did not want
for the fridge
That little piece of themselves
pasted to the pane
And looking down on ground level
Punched windows
that pull in pieces of paper
From the pavement
the inky sheets
dance in the deep dank depths
in dealings with the dust
And upstairs the wheelchairs
wait to be wheeled
Polystyrene ceiling slats
poised perfectly in slipped slants
Angular avalanches stuck in empty time
As the sun sets
the giant brick building soaks itself
in the last rays of the day
It’s stocking up on outside’s energy
whilst shadows creep up on scrapes of
action
upon the A&E wall
Got its rush
the rush of blood to the heads
of every little being
Bursting through door flaps
Lulled by nurses
Cooed by kindness
Now the bulbless strip lights
suspended, rock the birds to sleep
as they coo with satisfaction
at their accidental ownership
of this pigeon’s playground
Added: 30.04.2010
07.05.2010
I found the lack of any punctuation let the poem down. Nice images contrasting inside and outside the building.
13.05.2010
Some super phrases in this endearing poem. I liked the last verse especially.
25.05.2010
It's a real gift to be able to capture sadness so effectively
27.05.2010
Some good images, alliteration, but perhaps too much, so that some words seem redundant of get lost altogether.