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Did You Bring The Socks?
The last week of May 2003 was Haiku
Week at Waterford Regional Hospital. The staff of the Healing Arts Trust
spread out to importune these small poems from as many people as they
could. The idea was to compile a kind of verbal snapshot of as many
different aspects of hospital life as possible.
The Japanese haiku, a 17 -
syllable, 3 - line poem, was chosen as easily recognisable form, conducive
to short, sharp images. The point was not to stick rigidly to 17
syllables, but to make a good short poem.
Did You Bring The Socks? is a
selection from the wonderful response. The voices here range from Surgeon
to Postman; from Patient to Cleaner; from Library to Lab. Apart from
grouping some individual contributions together, the haiku are not
arranged in any particular order. What you will find here is a mosaic of
different voices, a community of different concerns. We hope you will
enjoy them.
Mark Roper
Writer in Residence at WRH, June
2003
Kindness and mercy
The whistling of a workman
Returning me to health
Violet L. Kearon
Meeting and greeting
Directions to all hospital areas
Repeating and repeating
Deirdre McCarry
The artist once said
Quoi sommes-nous, ou allons-nous?
Looking for healing
Peter Jordan
Always on Fridays
Unsuspecting little children
Scan shows a tumour
Carol Smith
The people are dear
But I’d rather not be here
Let me make that clear
Tony Turner
Are you okay there?
So far anyway yourself Dad?
I’ll live yet awhile
Andrew Kiely
Small cell lung cancer
The name of his tormentor
His one claim to fame
John Kennedy
Behind the curtain
A doctor and two nurses
Whisper that he’s gone
John Kennedy
Sleep is uneasy
In alien surroundings
Being watched over
John Kennedy
Blue lights and wailing
Bringing in the almost dead
To be recycled
John Kennedy
Counting down from ten,
I begin to slip away
Could death be like this?
John Kennedy
A thin brown friar
Whispered mad words to my soul.
I smiled a weak thanks
John Kennedy
Chocolate, caramel,
Smell of bugs on agar gel
Microbiology!
Patrick Mulhare
Depression is like
Fear of the stranger in you
Who will not go away
Noel O’Brien
At your mercy
Wearing pyjamas today
I feel naked
Susan Scully
Too much expected
Miracles from white uniforms
They’re angels not saints
Susan Scully
Dedication meaningful,
Kindness thoughtful best of all
The vocation
Michael Halligan
Well and sick come
Through these doors, as for me
I wash the floors
Marian Ling
Where am I now?
Nurse where am I going with you?
Get me out of here!
B. Bergin
Doctors are moaning
The patients won’t stop groaning
This is hell on earth
J. Ryan
Sitting and waiting
Alone. In the eye clinic.
Sitting and waiting
Peadar Mulligan
Your file is not here,
They are doing a study
He will call you next.
Peadar Mulligan
Granny, mother, child.
Three generations of fat.
Nature or nurture?
Peadar Mulligan
Avoid the long wait
With BUPA or VHI
Look after yourself
Peadar Mulligan
Sorting the post,
Letters by the score, my heart
They nearly broke
Martin Power
Those of you who use
The lift today, a little prayer
To Jesus say
Martin Power
I feel so afraid,
I am afraid, I have
So little time left
Martin Power
The beds were all full
But the patient had pull
In the Regional
Martin Power
Stay the patient course,
Of little worth is your ire
Nurses are busy
Patricia O’Donnell
Sit in Outpatients!
Will I wait with you a while?
Silent we waited
Margaret Mitchell
Next contraction is here,
I look up seeking support
He’s watching the T.V.
Ollie & Liz
My mother said it,
Slice of toast and cup of tea
Manna after birth
Ollie & Liz
I got a big shock
In and out of a clinic
In fifteen minutes
Ollie & Liz
Art in a hospital!
What’s the idea are they
Trying to cheer us up?
Ollie & Liz
It’s hard to kill a body
You sit and wait and wait again
For that very last breath
Ollie & Liz
Old bandage lies on floor
Cleaners come and cleaners go
Old bandage lies on floor
Ollie & Liz
A sharp knife,
Strange as it may seem,
Can sometimes heal
Gordon Watson
Written or seen art
On a wall or a cart
Can cure a sick heart
Una Parsons
Phone rings, I answer,
Requests made always urgent,
Done A.S.A.P.
Patrick Fitzpatrick
The printer stops dead,
Irritations rise at backlog
Slaves to technology
Patrick Fitzpatrick
Log out by lunchtime,
Maintenance to a system
Essential to all
Patrick Fitzpatrick
It’s in hospital
Haiku Is it a disease?
Is it a virus?
Gloria Collins
Derelict and gaunt
The old Infirmary now.
Snapshot of my aunt.
Mary Reid. Her name
Near the end of the ledger
Translates into pain.
Marry. Die. That’s it.
She hadn’t much of a life.
Broke with her blacksmith.
Sing love and marriage?
He was a runaway horse,
She the wrecked carriage.
When she spoke to us
Her lungs were full of dead leaves.
She went without fuss.
Derelict and gaunt.
The old grey Infirmary.
A snap of my aunt.
Edward Power
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Bridges and abutments,
The skilled dentist fills the gaps,
Gold, silver or white
Kay O’Leary
Endless extractions,
Conveyor-belt style alas,
Teeth too bombed for mankind
Kay O’Leary
Alarm at bleeding gums,
Toothpaste, toothbrush, elbow grease,
Function of all Mums
Kay O’Leary
Crazy tablet culture
Claims to take our pains away
Bring balm to the mind
Kay O’Leary
Steak, spuds, cup of tea,
Will somebody please feed me,
I could live to be 93!
Kathleen Brennan
Ospuidéal Áird Chaoin
Áras caoin lucht fulaingte,
Dídean, bruíon síthe
Dóirín Mac Murchú
Through spasms of pain
And by gentle persuasion
A new life is born
Colin Buckley
All day and all night
The invading mite burrows skin
The scabies itch torments
Colin Buckley
In droves they attend
Clinics for comfort and cure
Solace lies within
Colin Buckley
Big breaths in and out
Struggling through narrowed airways
Asthmatic lungs whistle
Colin Buckley
Welcome infusion
Coursing with purpose through veins
Brings relief to pain
Colin Buckley
Gentle flakes of snow
Fall in drifts from scaly scalp
On stooped shoulders
Colin Buckley
As I waited for knife
In Surgical One, my butter melted
In the heat of the sun
Ellen Costello
Forklift, no driver,
Absent without leave,
Miss Daisy, driving you
Barry Kieran
Press arrow for Up
Elevator etiquette
Trolleys go in first
Mary Grehan
Writing Things To Do
Adding to the paper mound
Before I forget
Mary Grehan
I enter the studio
Oil paint fills my nostrils
Taking me far back
Mary Grehan
Iodine hangs mid-air
Verandas are still sunny
Fifty years on
Mary Grehan
Here we go again
Round and round life’s journey
Winning now and then
Mary Baxter
Rounds are starting now
But I’m going home tomorrow
Three cheers for Sister
Mary Baxter
Turn left roundabout
Doctors will fix what ails you
Better thought straight on
Ted & Mary O’Regan
Hospital tea yukh!
Hospital coffee likewise!
Who’s for hot whiskey?
Ted & Mary O’Regan
My father once said
Shun hospitals like the plague
Then I got the plague
Ted & Mary O’Regan
Knew her growing up
Now she’s angel of mercy
It’s a miracle!
Ted & Mary O’Regan
X-rays every day
I should be down in the dumps
But I’m all aglow
Ted & Mary O’Regan
I was to go to Italy,
No, No, I said, I think
I’ll try Ardkeen instead
Carmel Rice
Drive in and sign in,
Computer on, printer on,
Fingertips tapping
Elinor Lynch
At ten fifty-nine
Make no mistake, COFFEE BREAK,
Poppy’s our saviour
Elinor Lynch
More work to be done,
Dinner time has come and gone,
5 p.m. FREEDOM
Elinor Lynch
O I broke my arm
I went to Ardkeen very quick
Now I am not sick
Sam Quigley
The nurses are lovely,
The surgeons grand, but for holiday
Give me Cloneen Strand
Breda O’Neill
How are you today?
Nervous, hope I get good news.
Please God you will
Rita Halligan
Request for haiku
Work Haiku Work Haiku Work Pick mine! Pick mine ! Please!
Marilyn
Win the Lottery
No more W.R.H.
Florence here I come!
Marilyn
Trying to make friends
The bitching never ends
Why do I bother?
Marilyn
I was in love once
With a gorgeous Doc
Cardiac arrest
Julian
O I lost my spleen
To some surgeons in Ardkeen
They got big money
Julian
The hospital bed
Unfeeling receptacle
Of living and dead
Julian
Medical Card Last.
First in line are V.H.I.
Classless world Yes? No?
Julian and Marilyn
I heard of haiku
What colour belt will I get?
And where do I train?
Marilyn and Julian
Evening and morning
I walk past, living as close
As I do, or am
Edward Denniston
A specialist
is a nurse, is a patient,
is a specialist
Edward Denniston
Here there is care, in
an arm’s leverage, a touch
so much, so much care
Edward Denniston
Lights flashing blue
Is it help for me?
Is it sadness for you?
John Watkins
Arrived in today
Not a single word from her
Just can’t take to her
John Kennedy
Cigarettes did it.
Landed me here in this place.
No doubt about that
John Kennedy
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They took blood again,
Found it hard to get the vein,
Look at my poor arm
John Kennedy
When the doctor comes
You go out and have a smoke.
He’s things to tell me
John Kennedy
Only for your Dee
I’d be in my grave by now,
I’ll give her that much
John Kennedy
You brought far too much.
What would I do without you?
Did you bring the socks?
John Kennedy
A hard and fast rule
Is never get involved
I should have listened
Finbarr O’Rourke
I met you today
Your smile made me feel happy
I don’t know your name
Finbarr O’Rourke
I’m in work today
Although I’m feeling depressed
Do I really count?
Finbarr O’Rourke
Our worst fears came true
They said you have Alzheimer’s
Where has our Mum gone?
Finbarr O’Rourke
Answers at the end
Of corridors and a destiny
Decided by others
Deirdre Hogan
From deep in illness
The seed of health, once discovered,
Is nursed to full bloom
Eileen Murphy
Seven beds, eight men,
How to put them all to sleep?
Ask anaesthetist?
Colm O’Shea
Doctors wear their scopes
Work such long days together
Tiredness their reward
Colm O’Shea
I thank you doctor,
And nurses, nurses, nurses
Don’t see me again!
Colm O’Shea
Hooked into his vein
Chemicals drip down like rain
Killing, healing pain
Derbhile Dromey
White, taut and starched
Like hospital bed-sheets her skin
Hangs in the parlour
James Young
A word transforms you
Malignant versus benign
Make the best of time
Anon
Haiku day, Ardkeen,
I heard the hospital clock
Striking seventeen
Edward Power
Hospital café.
Morning papers, telephones.
How are you today?
Edward Power
The elevators
Go between floors up and down
Up and down like hope
Edward Power
Giant Get Well cards.
Words are too heavy to fly.
Don’t mention the SARS
Edward Power
The long ward closes.
It’s time for the ash of sleep,
Scent of old roses
Edward Power
The Body of Christ?
Only if you’re catholic.
Jesus died for all?
Elizabeth Barnard
Butterfly wings appear
Like stained glass windows
In shafts of sunlight
Aidan Dunne
The little girl draws
The curtains and wonders if
She is going home
Marie Lynch
Bright Colours ready
Art Kart squeaks along Main Street
Patient child waits to paint
Boyer Phelan
Like cells in blood flow
People ebb and grow fast, slow,
Sick, old, wise, well help!
Boyer Phelan
Bright sunshine welcomes
Couple leaning, holding hands
Get Well balloon floats
Boyer Phelan
One two three four five
Six plus one equals seven
Minus two gives five
Edel Nolan
Some are shedding tears
Others have a happy smile
The rest in between
Henry Halligan
A busy place
Yet still white-coated empty space
Please, one coloured smile
Caroline Orr
Inhabitants
Of A & E wait silently
While the telly snows
Mary Grehan
I’m on the bleep
If you need me, she shouted
Between flashes
Mary Grehan
New stethoscopes,
Campus swapped for ward,
Still they travel in packs
Mary Grehan
Blue bear in the bag
He’s looking pleased with himself
It must be a boy
Mary Grehan
In pain he fantasizes
While nurse goes about her business
A few seconds’ relief
Liz & Ollie
Go Home, don’t worry,
We’ll have results in two weeks
Easy for him to say
Liz & Ollie
They say that it’s clean
I don’t know where they have been
Surely not Ardkeen
Liz & Ollie
They wear brown sandals
They offer smiles and space to cry
A Franciscan friend
Liz & Ollie
Don’t say the C word
Cancer can be contagious
We are scared to death
Liz & Ollie
Long corridors
Where death passes birth
And all in between
Liz & Ollie
Rain on the skylight
Such pressure thinking to write
Something meaningful
Emma Quinn
Panic, quietness,
Panic, quietness
Manic routine of work
Emma Quinn
She is breathing still,
Rhythmic, peaceful, but so faint,
Will she see the dawn?
The kind physician
Takes her hand. “You look better.”
This is a great day
Outside the door, tears
Streaming down our faces
I ask “Is God good?”
The loneliness clings
Like a great heavy blanket
After she is gone
Regina Bogossian
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Acknowledgements
A very special thank-you to everyone who submitted haiku, it was a great
pleasure to get such a tremendous response.
Thanks too to all the Healing Arts staff, Susan Crossan, Aidan Dunne, Mary
Grehan, Henry Halligan, Marie Lynch, Edel Nolan, Caroline Orr and Boyer Phelan,
for their enthusiastic, intrepid haiku hunting, and for making this booklet so
swiftly and so well.
Mark Roper
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