Doctor
(Palliative Care)
For Rachel
She’s working in the shallow end of life
taking care not to splash
as she walks the corridors
holding doors open for people to talk about life.
And all of those letters she’s gathered
at the end of her name, right now
just spell out the word P.E.A.C.E.
And for some,
she’s holding the hands of their clocks that run slow.
Repeating an oath in her eyes till she’s sure
that every last thing has fallen through.
Releasing their birds in the dark…
Biography
Winston Plowes shares his floating home in Calderdale UK with his seventeen-year-old cat, Sausage. He teaches creative writing in schools, universities and to local groups while she dreams of Mouseland. His latest collection, Tales from the Tachograph, was published jointly with Gaia Holmes in 2018 by Calder Valley Poetry